


Traveling Together

by Aroomie



Series: Witcher's Crane and Viper [2]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Accidental Courting, Acrobatics, Angst, Boys In Love, Broken, Character Death, Crane Witcher, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Falling In Love, Feelings, First Kiss, Flexibility, Found Confidence, Frustration, Hidden Talents, Hunting, Hurt Letho of Gulet, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mutual Pining, Not From Letho, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Pining, Scars, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Self-Worth, Self-Worth Issues, Silly Boys, So much angst, Surprise feelings, Surprises, Teamwork, everything is broken, missing character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26674156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aroomie/pseuds/Aroomie
Summary: Letho and his Crane start traveling together.The road to love is a rollercoaster of feelings, even for a witcher.
Relationships: Letho z Gulety | Letho of Gulet/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Witcher's Crane and Viper [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937845
Comments: 91
Kudos: 108
Collections: Notes From The Path





	1. First Days

**Author's Note:**

> The boys start traveling together~! Yay!

Arris kept his eyes on Letho, the Viper was weird. 

Letho made sure that Arris always had what he needed. The nights they slept outside, the Viper went hunting and brought back at least five rabbits, giving three of them to the Crane, or if it was something larger he would make sure Arris ate more of it then him and whenever he asked about it Letho would brush it off by saying that Arris needed it more then him, that he needed more meat on his bones. Arris rolled his eyes every time but, as it turned out, was much needed.

The first night, Letho brought back a doe and made sure Arris had eaten almost half of it. The nights that followed they had rabbit, then a week later Letho had caught a boar and made Arris eat more than half of the animal, and soon enough the extra food was beginning to show. Arris' face filled out a little bit more, cheeks that he didn't know were gaunt were now full, and his body now filled out his outfit even better as his muscles filled out, the extra calories doing wonders. 

"I think…" Arris says out loud one night when both he and Letho were both camped after a hunt, the Crane having just gotten back from washing in a nearby stream, Letho looked up at him. "I think I need a new top." Arris grumped and, staring at the fastenings of his top and Letho's brow lifted. 

"Why so?" Letho asked and watched as Arris dropped his bag, no doubt the one that carried his bathing soaps, and Arris lifted his hands to demonstrate. Letho couldn't help the smirk that spread over his lips as he watched Arris do up the first couple snaps of his top and the fabric pulled, barely containing the new mass of the Crane's pectoral muscles. 

"This is why." Arris huffed, frowning. "I look like a girl who just matured and grew breasts." Arris grouched and Letho laughed, waving a hand about in apology when Arris glared at the Viper. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Letho said with a grin then pointed at the Crane. "But you realize that you're supposed to be like that, yes? You are eating properly now." Letho said and Arris rolled his eyes.

"Witchers can survive on less food then what you keep throwing at him." Arris said, dropping down on a log near the Viper and Letho just grinned. 

"Less, yes, but I seem to recall you were borderline starving every time we've bumped into one another. Your "brothers" taking your coin and jacking your food." Letho said and Arris huffed softly, giving a small nod. 

"Yes, yes. My hero." Arris joked, swooning over so he would land on Letho's shoulder and they both laughed, the Viper shoving the Crane off of him and proceeded to put a roasted chunk of roasted meat in his hands and Arris gave him a skeptical look that Letho pointedly ignored. Arris huffed and dutifully ate the meat, then the bread, sipping at his waterskin while Letho shared about the hunt he'd just finished. 

They had been lucky thus far, every town they had passed through had two separate monsters issues, one for each of them, and Letho had found Arris staring at his coin purse with shock on his face at how much he still had even after purchasing a new dagger, sharpening his blades, and getting missing ingredients for replenishing his potions. In some ways Letho wonders how Arris can complete his contracts and _not_ get any injuries, he found himself giving himself a mental lecture, the Crane obviously finished the contract the guy always had proof of his kill! Maybe he was just that good and didn't get hit? What that possible? Every witcher he's ever met always had some scar or another, was the Crane really that good?

"What are you staring at?" Arris asked suddenly and Letho blinked, not realizing that he'd been staring at the Crane while he was lost in thought, and smiled some at Arris as he shook his head.

"Nothing. There should be somewhere in the next town to get your outfit tailored." Letho said, now staring at the Crane's outfit. "Why don't you have more armor?" Letho asked and Arris laughed.

"I wondered when that was going to be asked!" Arris said with a smile and Letho just grinned. 

"I was being respectful?" Letho attempted and Arris rolled his eyes.

"We Cranes usually stay to the coastal line, or sail with ships that can afford us. The things we hunt, while they have claws, are more or less easily dogged with the right timing." Arris said and Letho snaps his fingers.

"That's right. You're mostly asked to hunt sirens and such, right?" Letho asks and Arris nods with a smile.

"Yes. Sirens do love long voyages, you know." Arris joked and Letho snorted. "Sirens, drowners as you know, a sea witch here or there. Then there is the Kraken." Arris said offhandedly and Letho joked on his water. The Crane's brow lifted and quickly moved to pat the Viper's back, giving him a moment to collect himself.

"Those are actually real?" Letho choked out and Arris laughed with a nod.

"They are. Vicious things, some as large as three ships." Arris said.

"You've encountered one?" Letho asked, his eyes alight with curiosity and Arris smiled.

"Once. I was on a ship that needed to get to Skellige, one of my fellow Crane's was with me. The ship carrying us ran into a reef, despite warnings, and a young one showed up. A hard battle, but eventually it was scared off and we managed to free the ship." Arris said, smiling as Letho had turned his torso towards him and was leaning on the log as he listened. 

"You didn't kill it?" Letho asked and Arris laughed, shaking his head.

"Heavens above, no." Arris said. "Killing something that large takes more time then what we could spare, no. Simplest was to scare it off." Arris added and Letho nodded.

"How did you do it?" Letho asked and Arris smiled. He wasn't used to people asking him so many questions. He was boring, the shadow behind all his brothers as they took the light and credit from his efforts, to have someone interested in asking _him_ these things… Arris felt his cheeks warm and he smiled.

"We have bombs, ones special to the Cranes. The combined chemicals when the bomb is activated it creates a bright light, one that's painful to look at." Arris explained and Letho made a small noise of interest. "And we also have a weapon most others do not." Arris added and Letho's brow lifted. 

"One we don't? Bull shit." Letho said and Arris smirked as he reached around his belt and pulled something from a fairly large holster at his waist. Letho's eyes widened as he watched Arris pull out a strange-looking instrument, a combination of wood and metal, bobbles sticking this way and that, and Arris holds it out with an open palm towards the Viper. 

"What, the ever-loving fuck, is that?" Letho said, making Arris laugh, as he sat up and eyed the instrument.

"It's called a gun." Arris said.

"A gun." Letho echoed, his eyes roaming over the instrument. Arris smiled and reached for Letho's hand, flipping the VViper'shand palm up and set the gun in his hand. 

"Here, keep your finger away from here." Arris said, motioning to a small opening with a curved metal spike in the middle of it. "That sets it off. I don't think you're ready for the noise it makes." Arris said with a laugh and Letho blinked.

"It makes noise? How useful of a weapon that makes a loud noise?" the Viper asked and Arris rolled his eyes.

"It has a shot limit like a crossbow, needing to be reloaded after one shot, so ideally it would be used in an emergency or for a final blow." Arris said, releasing his hold on Letho's hand and immediately the Crane missed it. He watched as Letho ran his fingers across the whole thing, baring in mind of the trigger, and examining it. 

"Looks… complicated." Letho said quietly, and Arris chuckled with a smile. 

"Not if you learn properly. It is no harder than a crossbow." Arris smiled and Letho nodded, still looking over the gun. "I could show you how to use it one day if you like." Arris said and Letho's head snapped up to face him, eyed wide, and Arris was worried he'd said the wrong thing.

"Truly? You'd show me?" Letho asked, and Arris felt relief wash over him and he smiled.

"Of course. After you've seen it used a few times, of course." Arris said jokingly and Letho laughed, passing the gun back to the Crane. 

"Deal." Letho grinned. The two of them fell into comfortable silence after that and eventually, Arris felt himself slipping into slumber, comfortable in the Viper's presence. 

No one mentioned it when Arris woke with his head pillowed on Letho's lap. The two witcher's packing up camp and heading back to the village for their pay.


	2. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Letho and Arris get a joint hunt.  
> Things go awry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY~! Chapter.
> 
> <3 A huge, huge, thank you to Squeakerblue for beta reading my chapter!! <3

It wasn't until two months of travelling together that Letho and Arris had only one contract, but it was one big enough that it would require two Witchers. They split up to talk to the villagers, talking to the witnesses and regrouping at the town's edge to share what they've learned. 

"This is turning out to be shit." Letho growled as Arris approached, the Crane chuckling softly. 

"Can't be that bad." Arris said with a small smile but it fell when Letho produced a feather.

"Fucking villager picked it up as a "souvenir"." Letho rolled his eyes and Arris plucked the feather from Letho's finger, looking it over. "Griffin. Double scented, meaning a mating pair." Letho scowled, rolling his eyes. "Judging by the colour, and length, they are an older pair, experienced." Letho snarled in annoyance and Arris felt compelled to keep his mouth shut as he looked from the feather then towards Letho. 

"Uhm…" Arris frowned some, looking back at the feather. Letho's brow lifting slightly.

"What?" He asked and Arris shook his head some, staring at the ground. Letho sighed. "Please, tell me?" Letho prompted gently and Arris glanced up at him, shifting nervously before stepping closer to the Viper and points at the feather.

"You see this part here? The colourization." Arris pointed along the stem of the feather, Letho's eyes training onto the feather. "It's richer, less… Powdery in appearance." Letho nodded slowly, glancing at Arris for a moment before looking back. "The richer colour and if you… Close your eyes, take another smell of it…" Arris said and Letho did as instructed, leaning towards the feather and taking a long inhale. The scent was that of any other griffin, the same as any other griffin feather, he was about to pull back and say as such but stopped midway as he smelled the difference, subtle but there, and opened his eyes, glancing at Arris.

"Archgriffin." Letho breathed and Arris smiled slightly with a nod. "How'd you…? With just a feather and nothing else." Letho sounded impressed and Arris' face warmed and he looked down at the feather in his hands. 

"I have been alone, a lot. It gave me time to study, learn… The Crane school actually have a scenting test, we get to study the items trapped within glass jars, to learn things by scent. Even though we are mostly coastal hunters, we still get the odd job for something else, so we are taught to know them almost instantly by scent." Arris said and Letho continued to stare at him. 

"How well did you do on this test, how many did you guess correctly?" Letho asked and Arris' cheeks turned a shade of pink, surprising Letho, and the Crane shook his head.

"I, ah… All of them." Arris glanced to the side and Letho's brow lifted.

"All of them?" He asked and Arris shrugged, looking away.

"I was the first of my school to get all scents correct the first time." Arris said quietly and Letho let out a low whistle. 

"Is there anything you aren't good at, Crane?" Letho asked and Arris rolled his eyes and gave the Viper a look.

"Lots of things, but I am good at my job, Viper." Arris said with a joking tone and Letho smirked. "Being alone during winters had given me plenty of time to practice and perfect." Arris added, his eyes dropping once again to the feather in his hand, tracing his fingers across the plume.

"Hey." Letho said gently, placing his hand on Arris' shoulder and the Crane peeks at him, surprised to see the smile on the Viper's lips. "You do good, Arris. You continue to surprise me at every turn."

Arris blinked and stared at Letho for a while longer before smiling and they both set about getting ready for the hunt. the mix of scents on one feather, a mated pair, meant one for each of them to take. A griffin was normally not too bad to handle, but an archgriffin was a different matter entirely. Arris had organized for a room to be prepared for them for when they returned from the hunt, they'd need at least a day of rest after hunting the beasts. 

Arris had prepared extra potions of Swallow, secreting most of them away in the Viper's belt, as well as preparing the oil for their blades. It did not take them long to find their way to the location indicated by the witnesses and Arris took a long deep breath of the air, scenting, then turned his attention east and motioned lazily with a hand.

"That way." He stated and Letho grinned at him.

"Quite the bloodhound, aren't you? Makes things so much easier." Letho said with a grin as he bumped his shoulder into Arris's and Arris turned a snarl on him but dropped it quickly when he saw the look in Letho's eye, realizing the Viper was teasing him, and Arris slowly smiled back and the Crane swatted at him with a playful hiss.

By midafternoon they had located the nest, staying both downwind and out of sight to assess the situation. The female was at the nest, tending the edges and righting things she didn't like, while the male wasn't anywhere to be seen. Letho and Arris shared a look, the Viper shrugging his shoulders with a small frown.

"Better take this one out quick, the male will be back soon. It will be easier to deal with them one at a time." Letho said and Arris's fist clenched, his mind momentarily drifting away as a different voice echoed out in his mind but he quickly shook his head. Arri's's fist clenched, he had hoped working with Letho would be different, actually having help, but it seemed he'd be on his own again, while another Witcher sat on his laurels.

"Shouldn't be too hard." Arris stated flatly, and Letho looked at the Crane with a lifted brow.

"Hmm." Letho hummed, making Arris glance at him and shoved a potion of Thunderbolt at the Crane just as he downed his own. Arris blinked in surprise but shook it off quickly, he had work to do. They both drew their blades, already doused with Hybrid oil for that extra hand during the fight, and stalked through the trees. 

Hunts were never predictable, even the best of plans could go awry at the smallest change, even the direction of the wind. Arris's eyes went wide as the loose strands of his hair suddenly blew into his peripheral vision, the wind changing direction and blowing their scent directly towards the archgriffin. The females head came up, sniffing the wind and her head turned towards the trees, and them.

"Fuck." Arris hissed and Letho echoed the sentiment with even fouler words. The female screeched at them, wings flaring, and she took off from the nest and into the air. Both Witcher's cursed and dove out of the way when the beast dove for their heads, Arris rolled to his feet, hand already forming Aard and shouted, directing the blast at the griffin and threw his hand out to quickly cast aard at the females wing, Letho's yell of approval making him grin. The female beast) as she twisted in the air, the joint of her wing knocked out of place and crashed hard into the ground. 

Letho moved first to the downed female griffin, bringing his blade back and slashing the silver blade down the beast's shoulder before jumping out of the way of her maw as she tried taking a snap at the Viper. Arris was next, using the opportunity to bring his sword down on the females neck and cut deep into the jugular, a spray of blood covering the Crane and making him curse in disgust as he quickly dodged back from the monster's sharp beak as she turned, acid spraying from her mouth as a final attempt to kill her attacker as she collapsed. 

Arris made a face as he began wiping blood from his face, the blonde strands of his hair painted crimson with the liquid, and he looked over to see Letho grinning at him and he returned the grin which fell as he saw movement behind the other Witcher and his feet moved without permission. The scuffle with the female, short as it was had masked the males arrival, and Arris's body moved on its own as he vaulted the dead griffin's twitching corpse and tackled the big Viper, twisting and shielding the other Witcher's vulnerable neck as claws dug into him. He bit his tongue bloody as they landed in the dirt.

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck!" Letho cursed and scrambled to his feet when Arris rolled off of him, pulled his crossbow and fired a shot that landed in the middle of the male's back, making it screech in pain. 

Arris, still laying in the dirt, struggled upright enough to pull a grapeshot bomb from his belt and popped the top, counting silently and pulled his arm back. He hurled the bomb into the griffin's maw as it dove again and the bomb blew, taking off half the griffin's face and it fell, crashing with a massive thud at Letho's feet.

Letho blinked at the heap of griffin at his feet and moved quickly as the griffin tried to stand, even missing half it's head. He swung his sword, severing what was left of its head neatly, then did the same to the now-dead female. He turned his attention to Arris, the Crane hunched over on the ground with his arms wrapped around his lower abdomen and forehead pressed to the dirt.

"Arris?" Letho asked and rushed over to the Crane, but Arris got to his feet and waved off the Viper. 

"Check the nest. Make sure there are no eggs." Arris said, his voice tight. Letho hesitated but eventually moved to do as told and checked on the nest. There were, in fact, a few eggs, freshly laid, and he quickly rendered them inviable, though still good for potions, and double-checked everything, scavenging anything useful from the nest and what remained of the victims. 

"Damn glad to have you along, Arris." Letho said as he approached the Crane again, his eyes focused on the few coins he managed to salvage. "This was a fuckton easier than if I had been alone." Letho added with a short chuckle. His gaze lifted when Arris didn't answer and saw that the Crane had slumped to his side on the ground, breathing hard, blood spilling from his lower back.

"Arris!" Letho rushed over and knelt next to the Crane, rolling the man to his stomach and lifting the back of his shirt up to get a better look. A low hiss came from him as he inspected the three claw marks that sliced through the Crane's lower back. Muscle and even a bit of bone lay exposed and he winced. He rolled Arris back to his side, and partly onto his own leg, keeping the wounds from being covered in dirt and debris.

"Hey, hey." Letho lifted a hand and gently tapped Arris's cheek, the pained, hazy look lifting just a bit as Arris's eyes lock with his. "We need to stitch these. Alright?" Letho said softly and Arris just nods dumbly, wincing when Letho shifts, making the skin pull. "Can you walk?" Letho asks and Arris frowns, blinking rapidly as he thought about the question.

"M-maybe…?" Arris croaks and Letho gives a small nod. 

"Alright, here's the plan… You're going to lean on me, carry one of those heads and I'll take the other. We'll get you back to the camp, and get your wounds stitched up. For now, drink this." Letho says, producing a potion and holding it to Arris' lips. The Crane drank the foul liquid in one gulp, his face scrunching up. 

"S-swallow?" Arris asked and Letho nodded.

"You've never had to drink it before?" Letho asks and Arris shakes his head. "Sorry, I know it's foul." Letho said and Arris laughs weakly.

"Tastes like Utter shit." Arris breathes and Letho laughs softly, hoisting the Crane to his feet and wrapped his arm under the Crane's arms, keeping him close for balance. They made their way over to the archgriffin's severed heads and Letho picked up the first and handed it to Arris, the Crane's eyes regaining that far away look that worried Letho, and quickly picked up the other head before making their way back to their camp. The walk was slow as Arris had to step carefully, but when they finally arrived Letho quickly tossed the heads into the far corner of their camp and set Arris down on a log as gently as he could then ran to his packs and shifted through the saddlebags, growling as it took longer then he liked to find the kit he kept for stitching then moved back to Arris. 

"Alright, little bird. This is going to hurt, so just breathe, alright?" Letho said gently and Arris nodded painfully. Letho rolls the Crane over, propping Arris on a fallen log in their camp andLetho pushed gently, guiding the Crane to lay down on the log and pushed the witchers top up, freezing when Arris lets out a distressed noise. Letho looks up to see Arris staring at him with unease, hand gripping his shirttail. 

"Just enough to reach the wound, alright?" Letho said, and Arris nodded, looking away as the back of his neck turned red. Letho had learned in the short time they'd travelled together that the other Witcher was extremely body-shy...well, shy in general actually. Letho suspected it had a lot to do with his so-called brothers. 

Letho focuses on his task, threading the needle and making sure he had enough to stitch it all. Letho sighed and stared at the gashes, the twitching form of the Crane, and Letho quickly pushed away all other thoughts as he got to work stitching the wounds closed. The first prick of the needle made Arris yelp, his body tensing, then start trembling and Letho tried to move quicker. By time Letho had finished the first gash, Arris had started to babble nonsense, the name "Verel" followed by "sorry's" and "stops" and "pleases", and Letho wanted nothing more than to stop but he had to finish the stitching. 

Arris had never been wounded before, fast and agile enough to avoid the talons and claws of monsters he'd come across. He was shaken, both by the shock of the impact and the sudden wave of shame. Slow witchers get injured, slow witchers get killed, was he getting slow? Was he no longer worthy of his life if he couldn't manage to save a fellow witcher and come out unscathed? Was everyone right about him?

"Arris." Letho's voice pulled the Crane from his spiralling thoughts, a warm hand touching his cheek, and Arris blinked to focus. Concerned golden eyes stared down at him and Arris blinked again, leaning into the touch before slowly sitting up, wincing at the tug of the stitches. Strong hands helping him to sit proper and Letho smiled gently at him.

"The stitches can come out in two days, but it's gonna hurt like hell. You'll have to take it slow 'til then, those claws went deep." Letho said, and Arris nodded slowly, rubbing a hand over his face and taking a deep breath. "Hey. Thanks. I didn't even see that big bastard and if you hadn't tackled me, I'd be shorter by a head." Letho reached out, gripping Arris's shoulder and touching their foreheads together. It was something Arris had only ever seen given to others, never him. It was a gesture of thanks, respect and welcome. "You were amazing, Little Bird."

Arris closed his eyes, and for a moment, just a moment, he let himself believe the other Witcher's words. 

~~~~

The moment Letho and Arris stepped foot into the tavern, the woman who Arris had spoken to earlier had rushed over to them when she saw how much Arris was leaning on the Viper, a firm frown set on her lips. 

"Come, set him down here for now. I shall show you to the room." She said hurriedly, leading Letho to a seat near the steps and snapped her fingers for one of the hands working at the tavern to go collect the witcher's bags and they disappeared up the steps, Letho pressing his forehead to Arris's briefly before going with the woman. Arris watched the Viper go before his eyes dropped to the table, his gaze distant and mind left to wander. 

_A hand at his throat, gripping tight, but not tight enough to leave a mark. "You never travel alone, Swan, you understand me?" A witcher with scars marring the entirety of his neck and left side of his face growled at him. "No one will believe you're a witcher, not with that face." The older witcher sneered. "If we weren't desperate you would be utterly fucking useless to this school. Do you understand that?"_

A loud crash made Arris snap back to reality, memory vanishing, blinking as he watched a drunkard stumble about the tavern floor, cursing and mumbling incoherently at everyone around him. A couple of the serving girls tried to coax the man down, speaking gently to him with placating hand gestures. Arris watched as the man continued to rage about, only getting angrier the more people tried to calm him down. 

Arris's eyes left the man for as he watched the boy who was sent for his and Letho's things come bounding in from the stables, their saddlebags in hand, and ran up the steps. When the boy vanished up the stairs, Arris looked back over and blinked when he saw the drunken fool had gotten closer to where he was seated, a bottle of something now in his grasp and flinging it about wildly. 

"Sir, please! Calm down!" One of the barmaids pleaded.

"Screw you, you filthy little whore! I pay like everyone else!" He yelled loudly, and the girl shied away from the man after that. His arm flying about even more wildly. "Now give me another!" He screamed, his arm flying about hard enough that when the bottle met the edge of a table, the body shattered into pieces and he now held the jagged ends of the neck in his grip.

Arris frowned, his gaze narrowing on the broken neck on the man's hand. His attention was drawn to the steps as he could hear Letho and the woman's voice getting close again. The Viper smiled at him once he spotted Arris already looking at him and made his way down the steps when Arris began to rise from his seat. A mistake. 

The movement caught the attention of the raging drunkard, arms flailing about as he turned around. 

"Arris!" Letho called out and the Crane's head snapped around, leaning back just in time to have one of the jagged edges of the broken neck to graze his face, cutting just above his eyebrow and travelling down barely missing his eye and ending at his cheekbone. He flinched back, the movement pulling at his fresh stitches and he staggered. Letho was suddenly at his side, holding his shoulders and snarling viscously at the drunkard who suddenly reeked of urine. 

Letho spared one glance at the woman who showed him their room and shook his head at her as she began to apologize and practically carried Arris up the steps and put the Crane on the bed, gripping his wrists and gently tugging.

"Arris, c'mon. Let me see." He prodded gently, rubbing soothing circles into the witchers wrists. It took a moment, but Arris let his hands be pulled back and Letho gave him a small smile before reaching into a nearby pack, pulling out a couple of bandages and went about cleaning the blood from the Crane's face. Letho checked Arris's eye, making sure only the skin around it was damaged, gently pressing the skin together in a vain hope that some of the Swallow Arris took earlier would help the skin to start healing.

"It's gonna scar. not as bad as your back, but it's too small for stitches." Letho said, and Arris nodded slowly. He stepped away to place the unused bandages back in the pack when he heard the boy start mumbling. He turned, seeing the younger Witcher had begun rocking in place, long fingers gripping his hair tightly, knuckles white. His eyes were unfocused, and his breathing was becoming harsher.

"Fuck, stupid..stupidstupidstupid. Can't do anything right. Never good enough." Arris slammed his eyes shut in a vain attempt to drown out that gravelly voice that had screamed similar words at him all his life. He didn't even feel strong arms wrap around him and pull him into a bulky chest. 

"Hey, hey. No. Breathe." Letho said, mildly panicked. He's never seen someone like this, let alone another witcher, he had no idea what to do. So he held Arris, kept his arms wrapped around the smaller man and ran his hand across his back, speaking calmly in his ear, praising how well he did, how glad he was to be travelling with the Crane. It didn't seem like the younger Witcher was hearing any of it, but he kept it up anyway. It felt like hours before Arris' breathing levelled out and Letho continued to hold onto the Crane, rubbing his back still but at a slower pace now, and soon after that when Letho looked down to check on Arris he saw that the Crane had fallen asleep against Letho's chest.

The Viper smiled sadly, reaching up and brushed stray strands of Arris' hair from his face before carefully maneuvering the smaller witcher to lay on his side and proceeded to gather a cloth and water basin and cleaned up as much blood from the Crane as he could. He moved and cleaned himself up enough to be comfortable and settled in the bed next to the Crane after making sure the door was locked, pulling the sleeping witcher to his chest and held him close as the Crane turned his face to Letho's chest and tucked himself in close to the Viper. 

Letho smiled to himself, hugging Arris closer before slipping into a light meditative state so he could immediately tend to Arris should the Crane wake.


	3. Self Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arris shares about his past at his Witcher school.  
> Letho makes it known he will always be there for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapterrrrrrrrrrr~! <3
> 
> <3 A huge, huge, thank you to Squeakerblue for beta reading my chapter again!! <3  
> All the love<3 <3

The two witchers stayed in town for the next three days at the insistence of the owner as apology for what happened to Arris. Letho was grateful, but Arris curled in on himself even more, barely spoke, and didn't raise his eyes to anyone. Letho had begun to miss the Crane's voice, the way he would smile at one of Letho's piss poor jokes or snarky comments. 

The cut on his eye had healed nicely with the help of another Swallow potion, a fresh scar now decorating Arris' face. The Crane kept it carefully covered with his hair and Letho was beginning to miss the full sight of his face. They were seated on the bed at the tavern on the third day, Letho had left the stitches in for an extra day just to be sure, and now he was removing them with as much care as he could muster, listening as Arris tried not to make noise as the thread pulled his skin. 

"They're healing nicely." Letho grunted but Arris didn't respond. Letho glanced at the Crane sitting in front of him, frowning when he saw that Arris had his eyes closed and not paying attention, the Viper worked out a couple more stitches before biting the inside of his cheek and opened his mouth. "Who is Verel?" He asked quietly and Arris' body went rigid. He wanted to be there for the Crane, to help in more then just hunting, and this felt like the next step for him to accomplish that even if he needed to cause pain in order to help with the healing. 

"H-how...?" Arris looked over his shoulder at Letho, the Viper's eyes staying on his task of removing the stitches. 

"You were pretty out of it when I was stitching you up." Letho said softly. "Started talking... Begging." Letho's gaze darted up and locked with Arris' wide-eyed gaze before dropping back down as he resumed tugging free the stitches. "They didn't just take your coin and make you do all the work, did they." It wasn't really a question, but Arris shook his head slowly. The Crane looked down at his hands fisted in his shirt, keeping the fabric trapped against the middle of his back so Letho couldn't raise it higher.

" Verel... He..." Arris swallowed thickly, his eyes remaining on his hands as he willed his voice to come out. "He is the disciplinarian at the Crane school... He got the job because of his brutality when dealing with monsters. At least that's the official story." Arris said with a dull laugh and Letho grunted. 

"And the unofficial?" Letho asked, tugging another stitch free. 

"He's ugly as sin." Arris said and Letho snorted. "Before he got the job... he was on a hunt for a nest of Sirens. The job was going well, dispatched a few Sirens, destroyed the nest, but he didn't count for a much older Siren to be there. It was off hunting, returning when it heard the cries of the others, and took Verel by surprise." Arris huffed, playing with the threads of his shirt. "It grabbed him around the neck, tried decapitating him, but he's a stubborn fuck. He claimed he managed to loosen her grip with enough thrashing that all she could do was shred his face. " Arris added and Letho's brow pinched. Seriously? 

"How'd he get out?" Letho asked, pulling another two stitches free. 

"He says her grip slipped and he managed to take her head off before she came back at him." Arris shrugged and Letho could tell he didn't believe him.

"What do you think happened?" Letho prompted gently and Arris turned his face away. 

"Doesn't matter what I think." Arris said in a low defeated tone that made Letho frown.

"I think it matters." Letho said, pausing his task so he could lean forward and gently place his forehead against Arris' shoulder. Letho closed his eyes and stayed there, listening to Arris's heartbeat, the slow steady beat of a Witcher. 

"He used his gun." Arris said after a long moment, Letho opened his eyes and tilted his head, putting his chin on the Crane's shoulder.

"His gun?" Letho asked and Arris nodded, glancing ever so slightly at the Viper then back to his hands.

"It doesn't look like much... But the impact of the bullet from the gun can actually make a creatures head explode if you have the right technique down." Arris said and Letho choked on his saliva. 

"Explode?!" Letho asked incredulously. "No fucking way." Arris gave a weak laugh at the look on his face. 

"Maybe I'll show you one day." Arris said. "Anyways... I think he used his gun. Once a Siren has its claws in you, there is no way that it would just let you "slip" out of its grasp." Arris said with an eye roll and Letho snorted with a small grin, going back to his task of removing stitches. 

"So, he got the job as the disciplinarian, but that doesn't explain why you were... Pleading, for it to stop while I was stitching you up." Letho said, looking up from his work when Arris made a small wounded noise, the Crane's head dipping slightly.

"He, ah... He doesn't like me much." Arris said. Letho rolled his eyes.

"None of your so-called brothers seem to what with how they talk around you and take your coin." Letho growled, glaring at the stitches. "I'm amazed there are still Crane's around if they all behave like that." Letho said and Arris smiled wryly.

"Yes, well... Verel hates me the most." Arris said. "I was a day out of my Trial..." Arris started and Letho paused his task, looking at the back of Arris's head. "My hair was more dirty blonde then, the Trials enhanced the colour. I was mocked for being so "pretty", that no one would believe I was a witcher because of how I looked... Easily disguised as a girl." 

Arris laughed softly, shaking his head. "I'm told I was a Child of Surprise, but my mother didn't wish to give me up so she tried to make me off to be a girl as if it'd help. The witcher came, and I left with them, they only found out I was a boy because of the cleansing they made me do in the ocean before entering the school." Arris said, pulling at the hem of his shirt again.

"Cleansing?" Letho asked, brow lifted.

"Hmm, they make all the new boys stand in the waters for an hour. We had to scrub down every inch of our bodies till they were red before getting to go inside. Some shit about washing away our past and embracing the pain of the life to come." Arris shrugged his shoulders with a roll of his eyes. "When I passed my Trials, this one boy, Trevor... freshly passed as well, said something, I don't remember now but I remember how angry it made me." Arris closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I shoved him, hard enough to make him stumble and fall, but he didn't fall to the safety of the inner yard... No, he fell off the wall facing the ocean. When I tried to grab him he swatted away my hand, called me a freak, and lost his grip. He cracked his head open on the rocks below and the waters swept him away." Arris said, his voice heavy, and Letho pressed his forehead to Arris' shoulder once again.

"And Verel?" Letho prodded gently. 

"Verel..." Arris sighed. "He always hated me. The moment I walked through the doors of Kaer Darh, he always hovered, watching, waiting for me to make a slip." Arris said, his gaze growing distant. "The moment I pushed Trevor, the second he fell, Verel got me. He kept me separate from the others, withheld food, worked me through every formation and training he could think of... He even created new ones just for me." Arris sighed, blinking and glanced back over his shoulder at Letho for a moment then looked back at his hands. 

Arris's voice flattened, a mimic of Verel, but Letho heard the strain beneath. They'd been repeated so often they had become rote. "No one would believe a stupid boy like you is a witcher. If you weren't the only one to survive out of your group, you would be utterly useless. You are a waste of breath. Waste of resources. You should start learning to repair your own shit, Swan, no one here will hel--" 

"Ow!" Arris yelped and jerked away from Letho's hands, the Viper blinking stupidly at the bundle of stitches now in his hand. 

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I..." Letho apologized, he had been listening to everything Arris was saying and a hatred for the members of the Crane school swelled in his gut, his grip tightening gradually on the stitches in his hands until they finally snapped free harshly. 

Arris stared at Letho for two heartbeats, before the Viper pulled out a salve, rubbing it across the Crane's now angry and adjetated skin, and Arris remained silent for a long time, letting Letho work out what ever was going through his head.

The silence dragged on, Letho turning his attention to the last of the stitches so he wouldn't hurt Arris again by mistake. The Viper's eyes narrowed on the Crane's back, though he wasn't angry at him, and his throat worked around silent growls and curses. When he pulled the final stitch free, Letho rubbed in more salve and tugged Arris' shirt down. He got up from the bed to put everything away and clean up the mess, the Crane's eye following him as he flitted about. When minutes threatened to drag into hours, Arris frowned and tipped his head down. 

"I'm sorry." Arris said softly and Letho's feet stopped their quick pacing. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to save you and keep myself from getting hurt... I was slow." Arris frowned harder. "I... I am never slow. I have to prove I am good enough. Otherwise, I'm useless!" Arris said, voice harsh, remembered words echoing beneath his own.

"Fuck that!" Letho snapped and Arris looked up at the Viper in shock. "Fuck your apology! You don't need to apologize, not ever!" Letho stalked up to the bed, grabbing hold of one of Arris' arms and pulling the Crane to him, forcing Arris from a cross-legged sit to kneeling as Letho towered over him. "Never fucking apologize to me, never apologize to those fucking cockles cunts for treating you as they do because they _know_ that you are fucking better than them." Letho growled, staring into Arris's eyes, and the Viper reached up and pushed the Crane's hair back from his face to reveal the scar on his brow. "This wasn't your fault either. It was that fucking drunkard. You don't deserve to be treated like shit, Arris, you are so much better. I've seen it. You saved my fucking life, you're allowed to get hurt because you saved a fellow witcher!" Letho hissed angrily and Arris started at him still, his eyes wide.

"C-can..." Arris started but his voice cracked. He swallowed and tried again. "Can I be proud... That I saved a f-friend...?" Arris asked hesitantly, using the last word like a shy boy asking a girl out to a dance, and Letho blinked. The Viper taken aback before smirking and giving a small nod.

"Of course. You can be proud, you _should_ be proud. Your scars are a badge of what you would give for someone you deem important." Letho said and Arris nodded. Tears slipped from Arris's eyes for the first time in decades and dripped down his face, surprising both witchers and Arris quickly tried to wipe them away. 

"Sorry. Sorry... I don't know why..." Arris said quickly, trying more to wipe the tears away. "I haven't cried since Ve--" Letho placed a finger over Arris's mouth and shushed him.

"We are never speaking that filth's name again. Ever." Letho snarled and Arris smiled slightly behind his hand before it moved and gently brushed away Arris' tears. "You are not alone anymore, Little Bird. Not when I'm around." Letho said and Arris couldn't help the broken sob that came from his throat as he fell into the Vipers arms and clutched at Lethos' chest as the larger man gently ran his hand across Arris' hair, watching as the golden strands flowed about his fingers like a river, and he gently pressed his lips and nose against the top of the Crane's hair. "You're not alone." Letho said again, more quietly, and Arris let out another broken noise as he continued to cling to Letho.

Letho knew that this talk wasn't going to just magically fix what Arris believed to be true about who he was, but it was certainly a step in the right direction. Letho knew more now, he knew how better to watch over his Little Bird. 

Starting with himself.


	4. Confidence Gained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings? Maybe. We'll keep quiet for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter~!!! 
> 
> <3 <3 Thank you again so much to Squeakerblue for betaing for me!!! <3 <3

Letho and Arris left the tavern a couple of days after the Crane had opened up to the other witcher, the two of them now that little bit closer to one another, and even though Arris was still quieter then usual Letho filled the space with his own stories. Letho shared about his own training, his trials, his time on the path before he'd dragged the Crane along with him. 

Arris listened happily to the stories, smiling some through them all and chuckling softly when Letho made a strange comment or joked about some other witcher doing something utterly stupid. Letho walked most of the time while Arris rode on Sky, the mare happily trotting about with the Crane on her back while Arris stroked her neck. Letho found them cuddled up to one another one evening when he came back from hunting dinner, Sky laying down and letting Arris use her as a pillow while the Crane drifted to sleep. 

Letho didn't have the heart to wake him, letting the Crane doze as he went about preparing their food. The rabbit was almost done when Arris jolted awake, the Crane looking around in a panic before he calmed, rubbing a hand over his face as he huffed.

"Pleasant dreams?" Letho asked, already knowing the answer and Arris looked towards him and scrunched his nose before crawling over to the fire and flopped down heavily, rubbing his face again. 

"Not tonight." Arris sighed and Letho frowned some. He watched Arris for a few seconds more before standing and moving around the fire to sit next to Arris, gently bumping his shoulder.

"Want to talk about it?" Letho asked and Arris kept his eyes on the rabbit cooking over the fire, shaking his head.

"No. No, it's alright. Just an unpleasant memory." Arris said and Letho frowned. He watched Arris as the Crane rubbed a hand over his face again then neck, his eyes distant, and Letho leaned closer to him and wrapped one of his arms around the Crane's shoulders, pulling him close. Arris let out a confused noise and looked up at Letho, brow pinched, and Letho just smirks at him.

"Hungry?" Letho asked, blithely ignoring that his arm was draped over Arris' shoulders, and the Crane nodded slowly. Letho reached over the fire and plucked one of the rabbits from the edge and offered it to the younger witcher, Arris staring at it before taking it in hand and starting to nibble on the meat. Letho smirked as he watched Arris eat, gently tracing small circles on the Crane's shoulder with his thumb as he grabbed the other rabbit from the fire and ate it slowly in big bites, watching Arris from the corner of his eye as the Crane took chipmunk sized bites from the meat. Letho simply crunched through the smaller bones. 

Letho finished his rabbit before Arris even though he only had one hand, his other refusing to leave the Crane's shoulder while Arris continued to nibble and pick at his. When Arris finally finished eating, Letho took the scraps and threw them into the fire to dispose of and pulled the Crane closer as Arris tried to smother a yawn with his hands. 

"Sleep," Letho grunted and Arris tried to fight against it. "Sleep, Little Bird. I'm here." Letho said with a soft rumble and Arris leaned heavier on the Viper. Letho huffed a laugh at the Crane as he fought off sleep for a few more seconds before it claimed him. Letho placed his lips against the top of Arris's head, resting there as he listened to the world around them, the thudding of Arris's heart and the steadiness of his breathing. 

Everything was different now. After every hunt, even if he didn't accompany the Crane, Letho made sure to congratulate Arris and praise him on a job well done. The first time he'd done it, Arris had looked at the Viper like the man had lost his mind. Arris soon found himself blushing every time Letho praised him as it became a regular habit. One he enjoyed quite a bit.

On joint contracts, Letho worked just as hard, if not harder than the Crane, making sure Arris knew he was there and he didn't have to do it alone, the Viper routinely giving Arris sixty-five percent of the coin so that the Crane could save up and get proper armour. 

"It's all fine and dandy, your uniform thing, but we're hunting more than just sea monsters out here. You need sturdier shit." Letho had told him when the Viper handed Arris the entirety of a shitty contract pay. Arris didn't know how to feel, all his life he'd been constantly berated, insulted, abused, but with Letho he felt treasured. 

On a calm warm night, one of the rare times Letho had fallen asleep before him, Arris just watched the older witcher for hours. He felt creepy, but couldn't bring himself to stop as he watched the Viper breathing, watched the twitches in his face as he slept. Arris turned his gaze away from Letho when he felt a strange swell of affection in his breast for the Viper, a small frown on his lips as he tried to decipher the feeling. Care, friendship... Desire? Want?... Arris rubbed a hand over his face, huffing. Fuck. 

He would keep this to himself, he didn't want Letho to send him away, not after finally feeling like someone cared for him. Even if only ever as a friend. Arris would look out for Letho like the Viper was doing for him. this was his promise to himself.

~~~~

Arris and Letho had travelled together now for six months. For the Crane, they were the best six months of his life and he planned on holding every memory close. Storing them away for the winter, but he wanted more. More time, more memories, just...more. 

The Crane started to get more confident in himself with Letho, making small jabs at the Viper and subtle jokes, at first Letho was so surprised at the sudden jabs he didn't know how to respond but now he just grinned and shoved at Arris's shoulder, making the Crane stumble a step and laugh. 

One day, mid-summer, Letho went hunting for their dinner and came back with only one rabbit and was covered in mud.

"The fuck happened to you?" Arris asked with a lifted brow and Letho bared his teeth.

"Why in the ever bloody fuck are rabbits so fucking fast?" Letho growled and Arris bit back a smirk.

"Losing your touch, old man?" Arris joked and Letho's eyes snapped to the Crane, who was desperately holding back his grin.

"Oh, you little..." Letho dropped the rabbit and tackled Arris, missing the agile Crane by a mere centimetre as Arris laughed and dodged the move. Arris kept laughing, avoiding Letho's grab a couple more times before he started laughing so hard he couldn't keep ahead and the Viper tackled him. They wrestled on the ground for a few minutes before finally ending with Arris sitting on Letho's back, the Crane having bent the Viper's arm around and pinned the man stomach down to the ground with surprising strength. 

Letho laughed as he tapped the ground with his free hand. Arris smiled and released his arm, Letho rolling over onto his back and smirked up at the Crane, who still straddled his hips, as he smiled widely down at the Viper, hair pulled back in a high tail and scar showing. They stared at each other for a moment before the fire popped, making Arris twitch and stand up, offering the Viper a hand up. 

Letho accepted and stood as Arris went about prepping the rabbit, talking absently about how he could maybe make a half-decent stew between it and the herbs he had in his pack. Letho, on the other hand, was completely distracted by the phantom weight of Arris straddling his waist. The memory of those warm hands and strong thighs making his chest ache, in a good way. 

Arris did, in fact, make a halfway decent stew for dinner, the witchers keeping up the banter and giving each other a hard time until Arris announced he was going to sleep. The Crane often bedded down next to Letho now, claiming he slept better, and Letho just smiled to himself every time Arris settled his bedroll down close by. 

They set out early the next morning, both witchers walking side by side, letting Sky have a break from their weight. The walk to town was short and a quick peek at the notice board showed only one contract and for a more than reasonable price, even if they calculated any withholding from the initial total. Arris plucked the paper from the board and strolled over to Letho who was asking one of the townsfolk where the nearest stable was.

"Letho, look." Arris held the paper out, taking Sky's reins when the Viper offered them in favour of taking the page, giving it a look over.

"Why so much, I wonder," Letho said absently and Arris gave a small nod.

"It's either a complete hoax or one hell of a fight," Arris said excitedly and Letho grinned as he looked at the Crane from the corner of his eye. 

"You seem happy about that, hmm?" Letho teased and Arris rolled his eyes. 

"We haven't had a hunt together in a while… Would be fun." He smiled and Letho chuckled. 

"Shall we then?" Letho asked, motioning his hand out and Arris rolled his eyes as he swatted the Viper with the ends of Sky's reins, making Letho laugh, and they both headed towards the nearest stable to drop Sky off before going to hunt down the alderman to ask about the contract.

The contract, as it turned out, was easy enough to figure out. It was a Fiend, hunting villagers and livestock alike. The alderman even agreed to pay the full fee, plus half again if they managed to kill it within the day. Arris watched the alderman as he spoke to Letho about the terms for payment, there was a haunted sad look in his eyes, the Fiend must have killed someone very close to him. 

The alderman dismissed them with a wave and Arris stuck close to Letho, sharing what he had observed about the man and Letho hummed in agreement. The witchers made their way to the woods, locating the Fiend's last sighting, and got to work hunting the beast down from there. It took an embarrassingly short time for them to hunt down the monster. It was a male, its behaviour agitated and jumpy, throwing a fit as it kicked and threw things in the forest, trying to make its home more comfortable.

"He's been kicked out of his old territory," Arris said offhandedly as they remained hidden in the bush to observe the monster. Letho glanced at him.

"What makes you say that?" Letho asked and Arris smiled.

"See how large his antlers are? The branch off near the end there is long, it's practically non-existent in younger males. And see how he's nursing his left side?" Letho looked back to observe the monster. "It got hit pretty hard, probably a younger male. There also isn't enough carnage for it to have been here long." Arris smirked and Letho held back a laugh, nodding slowly as he took in the appearance of the Fiend. 

"Have I told you how smart you are, recently?" Letho asked and Arris rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"Shut up." Arris snarked and Letho chuckled.

They both took their potions and snuck through the bush, Letho drawing his blade first while Arris moved around to a flanking position. 

"Oi, ugly!" Letho yelled and the Fiend reared its head towards him, roaring angrily and charged. Letho easily sidestepped the beast, swiping at it's back legs as it passed and grinned when a bolt flew past his head and sank into the beast's ribs. Letho smacked his sword against a nearby rock to draw the Fiend's attention once again, the beast charging towards Letho who sidestepped, swinging his sword in an arch and cutting deep into the beast's ribs.

Arris smiled to himself as he watched Letho practically dance as he dodged the Fiends attacks and once it was close enough, the Crane jumped from his position and onto the beasts back, drawing his blade in midair and sinking the silver into the Fiends side. 

It roared and thrashed in pain, making Arris lose grip on his embedded weapon. Letho slid under a swiping claw and managed to catch the Crane before the younger witcher landed on the hard ground. Arris stared wide-eyed up at Letho and a grin split across his face as he stared up at the Viper.

"Having fun?" Letho asked, amused, and Arris snickered. They both looked over at the Fiend as the monster howled in rage trying to dislodge the silver blade. Arris grinned suddenly, an idea hitting him. He wiggled about in Letho's arms and the Viper set him down, eyebrow raising as Arris pulled his gun from its holster and spun it around in a playful display. 

"Throw me in the air," Arris said, glancing at Letho before tapping the barrel of the gun against a rock to get the monster's attention.

"Excuse me?" Letho asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

"Throw me. In the air." Arris repeated, lifting a foot for Letho to grab.

"Now!" Arris yelled and Letho growled but grabbed the foot and flung the Crane upwards, bending his knees and pushing off, hefting Arris into the air. Letho watched with wide eyes as Arris was sent flying, the Crane surprisingly light compared to his obvious strength. Arris twisted his hips, pivoting midair as he aimed the gun, his free hand forming the familiar sign of Igni and Letho had to cover his ears at the ear-splitting boom that came from the weapon when Arris pulled the trigger.

Flame from his sign encased the bullet as it left the barrel and Letho watched as the tiny fireball impacted the back of the Fiends head, making the creature stumble before the back of its head exploded, engulfed in flame and the Fiend hit the dirt, sliding to a stop mere inches from Letho's boot.

Letho's eyes lifted from the smoking corpse and watched Arris land on the ground easily, barely a hair out of place. Arris looked at his gun and made a face of pleasant surprise before looking up at Letho and grinning widely.

"I really didn't know if that was going to work! I've practiced it, but never actually tried it in combat!" Arris said happily, tucking his gun away and moving around the corpse of the Fiend. "Did you see...." The Crane exclaimed and Letho could only stare at the Crane as the other witcher went on excitedly about how he'd developed the technique all on his own and that it had worked, without blowing up in his face. 

Letho let him ramble, his own mind too caught up with the feeling of the lithe Witcher in his arms, how light but strong he'd been, how warm. 

He wanted that. He wanted Arris tucked safely under his arm, or in them. He wanted to feel that strength against him. He still remembered the feeling of Arris straddling his wide waist and grinning down at him. 

He wanted that. He wanted it more than anything in the world. 

The question was, did Arris?


	5. Circus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when a Circus wants a Crane for not just their Witcher skills?   
> What happens when one of Letho's brothers comes in need of his help? 
> 
> Wait... Where is Arris's shirt??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah~!! It's a chapter! *So happy*
> 
> <3 <3 SO much love to Squeakerblue for her Beta/Edit skills and putting up with my crazy ass and helping me with this completely self-indulged mess of crazy!! <3 <3

Letho and Arris brought back the antlers as proof of the kill and the alderman, true to his word, paid them the fee plus the extra for getting it done within the day. Arris smiled so wide Letho swore that the Crane's cheeks were going to break and the pair of them went directly to the towns blacksmith after Arris looked in his purse and smiled somehow even wider as he declared that he had enough to get a good set of "proper armour", using his hands to make air quotations and everything, making Letho laugh.

Arris looked over all of the armour on display while Letho spoke to the smith, talking through what he had in mind for the Crane while said witcher was absolutely fascinated with everything in the store. Letho eventually grabbed the Crane by the scruff of his neck with a chuckle to hold the Crane still. The smith raised an eyebrow and smiled at the two of them as he went about measuring the Crane so he could make a proper fitting set. 

The smith declared that he could have the set done within a day or two, able to alter a current set he'd already had. Letho inspected the armour, declaring it suitable and they shook on it. The witchers went to the tavern to acquire a room, after collecting their bags and checking on Sky, the tavern owner predictably grouching at them but after some haggling to include a bath, gave them a key and they both made their way up the stairs.

The room was… suitable. It was on the smaller side, a single bed shoved against the far wall, a deep basin for bathing fixed into the corner. Letho and Arris both looked at one another, the Crane shrugging with a small shy smile and walked into the room as he started to shed his top, leaving just his undershirt on. He snapped out of his daze when a woman and three other boys carrying buckets caught his attention and he quickly skittered to the side away from them. 

"So, would you like to wash first?" Letho asked when the water was poured into the basin and the workers left, the Viper glancing over at Arris who shook his head with a smile.

"Go ahead. I'll take inventory." Arris said, grabbing the bags and tossing them on the bed. Letho shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck before stripping out of his armour and got into the bath, the basin barely big enough for him, and he let his feet stick out over the edge as he cast Igni to heat the water to Witcher tolerable and sunk into the heat with a groan. 

"You're supposed to wash, you know." Arris said. 

"Shut up. I'm warm." Letho grumbled, closing his eyes and the Crane laughed. They slipped into a comfortable silence, Arris checking all their potions, the bottles clinking together, while Letho soaked in the water, just long enough for it to start to cool, before starting to wash himself clean of the grime and sweat of the hunt. 

"We'll need more ingredients for Thunderbolt." Arris said, marking it down on a scrap of parchment, and Letho grunted, too warm to care. "Maybe for Cat as well? Why the fuck do you have only one?" Arris asked, holding up the lone bottle of Cat. 

Letho opened eye lazily and peered at Arris curiously "There needs to be more than one?" Letho asked and Arris just gave him an exasperated look. 

"You should always have at _least_ two, maybe three!" Arris said, waggling the bottle in the air again. 

"Why?" Letho asked curiously. He'd only ever carried one of each. 

"It's called precaution, dear Viper." Arris rolled his eyes, blithely ignorant to the fact he just used the word _dear_ when talking to Letho, and looked back down at the potions lined up on the mattress. "At least two on you when you know you have to go in a hunt that takes you into a cave, the third, just in case, and so that you wouldn't have to gather so many ingredients next time." Arris said, marking down more ingredients.

Letho blinked, staring at Arris with wide eyes at the "dear viper", and just nodded stupidly as the Crane continued to lecture him about not having enough supply. "I'll make a note." Letho said after a moment, grinning when Arris looked back at him and scrunched his nose.

"Shut up." Arris said, echoing the Viper's usual refrain and both Witchers laughed. Letho finished washing and climbed out of the bath, drying himself the best he could with the mediocre towel in the room, before hitting the bath with a shot of igni again. Not as hot as he'd get it, but close. 

The Crane smiled and went to the bath, Letho turning his back, letting the shy Witcher have his privacy. Letho listened to the splashing, and heard a muttered igni, and chuckled to himself when he heard Arris give a content sigh and sink further into the bath. Arris soaked there for a moment, letting the water loosen the worst of the grime before going about washing as Letho finished the inventory. 

Arris climbed out of the bath and got dressed just as quickly as he'd disrobed. Letho kept his gaze averted, hard as it was until he heard the groan of the bed as the Crane flopped onto it.

"I'll take the floor." Letho said, resigning himself to a relatively uncomfortable and chilly night with no warm Crane nearby

"Why?" Arris asked with an adorable tilt of his head, eyes already drooping. 

"There's only one bed." Letho said blandly. waving a hand at the lone bit of furniture

"So?" Arris mumbled, his eyes closing. "Practically sleep on you now anyways." Arris's voice is half slurred with sleep and Letho stared at the Crane for a beat before huffing out a small laugh

He set their bags on the floor, swords near the bed, and climbed in next to Arris as the Crane mumbled something about being cold. Letho took a deep breath, reaching out and wrapping his arms around Arris' leaner frame and pulling him closer, pillowing the Crane's head on his shoulder and suddenly the room is filled with the sweet smell of content witcher and a low purring as Arris burrows his face in closer to the Viper's shoulder, one leg pressing close to Letho's. 

Letho was dead, he had to be. He was dead and in some torturous combination of Heaven and Hell. The Viper stared down at Arris, his slow heartbeat picking up pace ever so slightly, and watched as the Crane wormed his way even closer to him in his sleep. He may have been in some combination of Heaven and Hell, but he definitely wasn't leaving anytime soon.

~~~~

"What exactly was the point of me having the money for my armour, if you were just going to pick it out?" Arris asked Letho the next day as they went to the blacksmith. 

The Viper snorted, inelegantly, "Because I see how you horde your coin, Little Bird. You keep it separated into needs: taverns, blacksmith, herbalist…" Letho counted them off on his fingers and grinned at the Crane who went pink in the cheeks. "I knew you'd keep it in the right pile and not touch it." Letho said smirking. 

"And you got to pick because...?" Arris asked, grumbling only a little and darting around the Viper as Letho pushed the door to the smithy open. 

"Because if I left it to you, you'd pick something flimsy and horrid." Letho stated knowingly. 

"I would never!" Arris yelped, scandalized, and Letho lifted a brow at stared at him. "Okay...well...maybe." Arris shrugged his shoulders, a bit self consciously and Letho chuckled softly, bumping into his shoulder companionably. Both witchers looked up to see the smith coming out with a bundle of armour under one arm and a bright smile on his face. Letho walked over to investigate it, inspecting each piece before shoving them into Arris' arms. 

"Mind if he changes here? If I have to look at the current set he's got on any longer, I may just fucking scream." Letho said and the smith smothered a laugh, nodding his head and ushering the Crane to the back. 

"What's wrong with my clothes?!" Arris yelled as he was unceremoniously shoved through the curtained doorway. 

"Just shut up and change, Little Bird." Letho rumbled outside the doorway and Arris huffed in feigned annoyance before doing just that.

Letho waited outside the door, arms crossed and leaning against the wall as he watched another customer come and go. He was listening for Arris and moved just as the door opened and he froze in awe. 

The armour was perfect, a sturdy leather piece that went up around the Crane's neck and hugged comfortably to his form, the top adapted to hold the same straps and buckles as Arris's old one, letting him comfortably tie a rope around his middle should he ever find himself on a ship again. The pants weren't quite as thick but had loops in various strategic places for the Crane to tie a pouch or two around his thighs and not worry about them slipping about. 

Boots and gloves of a sturdy leather like the top, and everything was chased in silver, a good precautions against bring grappled by a monster. The tips of the boots were capped in silver, the fingers of the gloves covered with small interlocking scales, both flexible and protective. The shoulders of the chest piece were capped with a pair of elegantly pointed pauldrons. A sword carrying rig sat across the chest, the silver ring shining. Arris looked at Letho, colouring lightly and pulled gently at the chain of his medallion so it settled firmly in the center of his chest.

"So... Uhm..." Arris glanced at Letho who blinked a few times before smiling and walking over to him.

"How does it feel?" Letho asked, gently tugging and pulling as he tested the fit.

"It...It doesn't feel too different." Arris said and moved past Letho to walk about, jumping in place a few times and glanced over his shoulder at Letho leaping and performing a backflip. The smith smiled, nodding proudly while Letho mumbled a fond "show off", and Arris grinned widely.

"It's still very flexible." Arris said, twisting and bending as he tested the give.

"It's a different tannin' technique. Still sturdy but flexible enough for ya' to make all your fancy flips." The smith said, very proud of himself, and Arris nodded, he'd keep him in mind to send other Cranes to. They paid the fee and the smith even gave them a couple of pouches that he couldn't resist making to match the set, free of charge, and Arris couldn't stop smiling.

Letho tucked away Arris's old uniform into Sky's saddlebags, he didn't have to like it to know it was still useful for the Crane Then they were finally on their way, it didn't take Letho long to notice the way the new pants hugged the younger witcher's ass. Letho carefully lagged, just a touch, so he could look his fill. The Crane didn't seem to notice as he continued testing the stretch and bend of his new armour. 

"Are all Cranes as acrobatic?" Letho asked after a while, Arris having just finished doing a backflip followed quickly by a frontflip.

"Yes and no. Yes to that we are all acrobatic, no to them all being like me." Arris gave a small smile and laughed softly, shaking his head. "When Ver...when HE wasn't running me ragged, I actually enjoyed the practice, especially acrobatics." Arris said and Letho nodded, _he_ needed to be run through a ghoul's nest with no weapon, naked, in a blizzard.

The pair stopped a few hours later near a small stream for Sky to have a drink and Arris, ever the energetic one climbed into a nearby apple tree and began picking some of the fruit for Letho and himself. Arris was swinging about happily in the branches, picking a surplus of apples, muttering about sweetened apple mash and pie, as Letho went to check on the mare as she drank from the stream. Letho gently brushed his fingers across her neck, staring down at the water and watching Arris's reflection on the surface as the Crane continued to jump about. 

Letho looked passed the Crane's reflection in the water, his brow lifting slightly, and he knelt to pick up the shimmering glint from the water and he hisses softly in wonder as he pulled out a gold-coloured stone that was spotted with blue flecks. The Viper flipped the stone around in his hand a few times, it was half the size of his palm, had decent weight, but not weighty and Letho smiled as he realized that the gold colour of the stone reminded him of Arris's eyes and hair.

"What'cha got over there, snake boy?" Letho jumped at the sound of Arris' voice, turning to look at the Crane and rolled his eyes with a fond chuckle when he sees the younger Witcher hanging upside down from a branch, carefully dropping the last of the apples into a pile on the ground.

"Here." Letho said abruptly, moving towards the Crane. He held out the rock to the younger Witcher, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked to the side. "It's... It reminds me of you... I mean, your eyes..uh..hair... You know, if it was a rock." Letho said awkwardly. He looked back at Arris, his eyes widening. Arris's whole face was flushed bright red and Letho had barely enough time to catch the Crane as Arris tumbled out of the tree.

"Whoa! Yep...I'm okay." Arris babbled, clutching the rock tightly and turned to stare up at Letho, face still bright red. 

"You're red, you alright?" Letho asked, concerned, the Crane had been upside down plenty and had never been this red before. Letho surreptitiously sniffed the air, but all he could smell was the scent of apples and was that...happiness?

"Yes! Yeah, I'm good." Arris gave a high pitched chuckle, dipping his head and giving a tiny smile as he tucked the rock into his pouch. "It's just... Letho... Do you kno---"

A shout interrupted him. "Hey! Witcher!" Arris and Letho blinked, the moment broken as a young human man ran up to them. "You're a Crane, right!?" The human asked excitedly and Arris' brow lifted, glancing back at Letho who shrugged.

"I am." Arris said warily. Most of the time, that question was a trap or a contract. 

The man smiled wider. spun and cupped his hands to his mouth. "Amea! You were right!" He yelled and then another person was running over to them, a young elven girl. 

The girl practically tackled the man in excitement. "I told you!" The elf smiled happily and looked to Arris. "I'm Amea, and I have the _biggest_ favour to ask of you, Sir Witcher!" She spoke quickly, looking about ready to burst at the seams. 

"Alright, shoot." Arris said, motioning for her to continue and she squealed. Arris and Letho both winced at the pitch

"Okay, okay! Here's the thing... We have a show in Novigrad to perform, and we have a bunch of new members. It's a long way, and we have to go through the forests near Gors Velen and there are rumours of monsters right now." She huffed. "But when is there not? I was wondering if perhaps you and your friend here would travel with us! Keep up safe on the road till we make it to Novigrad, and maybe... perhaps..." The girl flushed brightly. "Teach a little bit of your acrobatic ways to the newer members?" 7She winced at the last bit, her voice going squeaky with nerves.

"You sure you can afford me and my friend? We are at least a week out from Novigrad." Arris's raised an eyebrow and chuckled, glancing at Letho, who echoed the raised eyebrow, before looking back to Amea. "And me teaching anything would cost extra." Arris added and the elven girl nodded quickly. 

"Of course! We've been saving up our coin for a Witcher! Finding a Crane was just an added bonus." She laughed nervously. "I hope it's enough for the both of you, we were only expecting to get one Witcher...but you'll get a cut from the show once our show is complete!" Amea added and Arris watched as Letho's face shifted, brows furrowed as he mentally tallied the cost of the journey and nodded. 

"You have a deal. Half upfront first, though." Arris said with a small smile and Amea squealed once again with delight, the witchers again wincing at the pitch, and off she ran, apparently to fetch their pay.

"You'll have to excuse her. She's rather excitable." The young man said with a fond smile. "I'm Axel. One of the newbies she spoke of." The man, Axel, bowed politely and motioned for the two witchers to follow him. The caravan was a little way up the road, having passed them in case the witchers declined to help, and Amea came running back with a coin purse held to her breast and thrust it at Arris once she was within reach.

"Half up front! As promised!" She said happily and Arris chuckled as he took it, rolled it about in his hand before making a curious noise and handing the pouch to Letho. The Viper did the same, rolling the coin pouch in an experienced hand and his brow lifted slightly. 

"This is more then we get for killing a werewolf." Letho said, reaching down and tucking the pouch into their packs. 

"You don't get paid enough for going and getting yourself almost killed? That's... stupid." The elf said indignantly. She looked completely offended at the idea. 

"I'm going to like you." Arris laughed and Amea smiled widely as she took Arris's wrist and dragged the Crane off with her. Letho watched, a curious pang in his chest as he gathered their bags and whistled for Sky. 

The two had travelled with the Caravan for two days, quick to learn the pattern of travel. Breakfast, travel, stop for lunch and to rest the horses, travel, dinner, and sleep. It was at noon on the second day when another Viper approached the Caravan. Letho was surprised and pleased to see his brother, but it quickly turned to concern when the other Viper, Serrit, told Letho about a missing brother. A Viper named Auckes had vanished and while Serrit had a lead, he needed Letho's help, just in case. Letho groaned unhappily but agreed. 

"Arris." Letho said, holding his bags and Sky's reins. "I need to go." Letho frowned. He didn't want to go, but he needed to. Auckes had a propensity for landing face first in trouble.

"I got it. Go on. I'll...I'll be fine." Arris said, swallowing his nerves. He could see Letho frowning, but chalked it up to concern for his brother. Not every brother was like most of his.  
He frowned, pulling at every wall Letho had worked his way past. He'd be alone. For the first time ever. He turned to go.

Letho surprised Arris as the Crane turned to walk away as the Viper grabbed Arris's arm and pulled the Crane against his broad chest and wrapped his arms around the leaner witcher, pressing his face to his hair. The Viper took a deep breath of the younger Witcher's scent. Sea salt, apples and allspice, plus something undefinable.

Letho nudged his nose against Arris's temple. "I'm going to come back, alright? As soon as we're done. I know exactly where you'll be. You're still a week out from Novigrad, and the show will perform for five days according to Amea." Letho said, his voice rumbling softly. "I will be there. I'll send word if I'm going to be late." 

Arris squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped his arms around as much of Letho as he could. Witchers, as a rule, didn't hug, but he honestly didn't give a shit. Verel could go kiss a drowner. "I'll hold you to that." Arris growled quietly, sounding much like an angry kitten, not that he cared. 

Letho smiled, pulling back just enough to touch their foreheads together. They breathed together for a moment then Letho pulled away, mounting up on Sky and riding out. Arris knew it was stupid, but he kept watching as Letho rode away, until he couldn't see them anymore. He huffed a quiet breath and turned back to the Caravan.

As they travelled, when he wasn't helping teach the new circus members how to tumble and work on acrobatics, he stared at the stone Letho had given him. He rolled it in his fingers, memorizing the bumps and dips and watching the light glitter on it. Did Letho realize the significance? He desperately wanted to file it down, fit it to the top slot of his medallion back. Cranes courted using pretty stones like this when they found someone stupid enough to accept their advances, which usually meant another Crane. Occasionally another Witcher. Three slots for three stones. The intent, Desire, and Confirmation. 

It could take a Crane years to find the perfect stone for a mate. But Letho had found one by luck. He did intend to court him? Was it just a friendly gesture? He wasn't sure. Each school had its own courting style. Wolves and Bears provided food. Wolves let the mate eat first. Cats brought trophies and small game. Vipers courted through warm clothing, or spells to warm clothing, since they were often cold outside of their desert homeland. Manticores...well, venoms and poisons, if he recalled his lessons correctly. 

Letho was particularly lazy during the mornings until he got his blood moving, usually by Arris chiving him out of his bedroll to stretch and spar. 

He didn't get long to mope before Amea found him mooning over the pretty gold and blue rock. "He's more than a friend, isn't he?" Arris jumped at Amea's voice and he looked up to see the young elf smiling at him. 

Arris huffed quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I...I think so. I don't know if he knew what this meant." Arris said quietly, holding up the stone to the light. The elf, and all the rest of the Caravan, with a few exceptions, had been very welcoming, and he'd seen several same-sex couples in the few days they'd travelled. Amea sat next to him and gently nudged his shoulder. 

"I've seen the way he looks at you and...." She gestured at a pair of young men attempting to suck each others faces off while getting lightly pelted with bits of bread as the others acrobats laughed. "It's a lot like they look at each other...and very much NOT how a typical friend looks at another." She said and gave Arris a knowing look while the Crane sighed softly, stroking the stone. 

"Do witcher's follow courting rituals of the animal of their school?" She asks and Arris flushed brightly, refusing to meet her eyes. That told her all she needed to know. She'd kept snakes as a young girl, and the vipers were particularly drawn to warmth. Amea grabbed Arris's hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on. Trade for a trade. You're teaching us better than anyone ever has, and maybe...I can help you learn something new. And try to talk you into joining the show in Novigrad." She grinned at his suddenly concerned face. "In disguise, I promise!" 

Arris was dragged to her cart, where a set of long steel needles and a hunk of soft yarn was shoved into his hands. "You, Master Witcher, are going to learn to knit." Amea said, picking up her own needles. 

Arris flushed. Vipers courted using warm clothing, and Letho HAD given him a stone. If...If he didn't know, it would just be a gift. If he did...well, it would mean quite a bit more than that. He turned his attention to Amea.

"First, you gotta learn how to cast on....."

~~~~

Its been ten days....ten fucking days since he left Arris on his own with the Caravan. 

He glared at his brothers across the fire, the three Vipers having settled into camp for the night. He rotated his rabbit on its stick spit. He didn't care for raw meat all that much. 

"I can't believe you fell in a fucking hole." Letho's brother, Serrit groaned and chucked a hunk of hardtack at his other brother, Auckes. 

"Bite me, Serrit. How was I supposed to know there was a giant fucking hole while I'm being chased by a pissed-off werewolf pack?" Auckes grumbled, then ducked the cuff to his head from Serrit and the two started bickering like small children.

Letho just watched them, exasperated and tired. He'd left Arris behind, all alone for the first time in the Crane's life and for this? For his nose-for-trouble brother to be fine after being fished out of a remarkably deep, suspiciously smooth hole? Some mage remnant he'd guess. He was glad his brother was fine, dirty, thirsty and ravenous, but fine. He'd rather be with his Pretty Bird though. 

"You alright there, brother?" Serrit asked, rubbing a sharp knuckle over the trapped head of Auckes who squawked indignantly

"Hmm?" Letho tilted his head and rotated his rabbit again. 

"You've been distracted this whole fucking snipe hunt." Serrit ignored Auckes's attempts to free himself. "From the moment we got outta sight of that caravan....and that other Witcher." Serrit smirked and finally let go of Auckes, who flailed briefly before managing to catch his footing. 

"Arris. His name is Arris." Letho mumbled, his fingers twitching slightly as if rubbing a stone.

"Arris? You mean the pretty boy the Cranes call the Swan? Why the fuck are you travelling with him? Every fucking Crane I've ever spoken to said he's a terrible Witcher." Auckes said, sliding back onto the log at Serrit's side. 

"He has more talent in one fucking pinky than you've ever shown, Auckes." Letho snarled, the sound making both his brother flinch back. "He saved my life." Letho said, lowly, a growl edging the words.

"You ...like him." Serrit said slowly. He'd known Letho all his life, only a few years younger than the other Viper. "He's..a friend.?" Serrit was pleased, Vipers didn't typically have friends outside the School. A bit of teasing wouldn't go awry, Letho certainly gave them their fair share during winter. 

"More than a friend?" Auckes butted in, a shit-eating grin on his face that didn't fade in the face of Letho's sudden stiffening and brutal snarl that crossed the big man's face. 

"Alas and alack, dearest brother!." Serrit lamented dramatically, flopping onto Auckes. "I believe our beloved brother Letho is in looooove." Serrit teased and he watched as Letho's brow pinched and his shoulders stiffened. Serrit blinked, studying his brother, his face, his shoulders, even his breathing. The pieces connected with a near audible snap in his head. Letho practically pining, his sudden defensiveness. "Fuck....you are, aren't you? You love him." Serrit breathed. 

"Well, I'll be damned. Never thought I'd see the day." Auckes swore. He was shocked and surprised and began to grin. His grumble butt of a brother, in love! He began to chuckle then laugh with delight, joined by Serrit. 

"Are you both quite done?" Letho growled, the tips of his ears starting to turn red. 

"Hardly. Tell me, brother. Have you made your intentions known? Does he know you think he's pretty?" Serrit asked and Letho shook his head.

"No...I mean.... he doesn't like to be called pretty." Letho grumbled, his eyes falling to the rabbit over the fire and he poked it desolately. STILL raw. 

Letho let his gaze wander, anywhere but at his staring and snickering brothers, when something glittered in the firelight. He leaned over to snag it off the ground and smiled, ignoring the gasps of his brothers, they'd seen him smile before, dammit. The stone was bright blue, shaded with a silvery gold. it actually appeared to change colours as he rolled it in his fingers. "Huh...I gave him one like this just before you showed up. More gold though. Didn't expect to find one here. He seemed to like it." His eyes flicked up to his completely silent brothers. "What?"

"Uh...Letho" Serrit said carefully, "Are..are you...Did you know that rock giving is how some birds show interest and intent?" Serrit paused. He could see Letho was completely unaware. This is what he got for not paying attention to the non-combat classes.

"Pardon... What?" Letho asked, swallowing heavily, looking back at the stone... 

"You gave your pretty Crane a rock, and not a gem, just a pretty rock that reminded you of him?" Serrit shook his head as Letho nodded. "Cranes court through stones, like we do warm clothing for outside the desert. They have these three slots on the backs of their medallions for the stones they receive from the one courting them." Serrit huffed a laugh. "Usually only Cranes court Cranes, but looks like you managed to stumble into that."

Letho stroked a thumb over the stone. "I didn't know." 

Serrit swallowed. "If you didn't mean to court him, you can give him a plain gray stone." He offered, He'd picked it up from a surprisingly friendly Crane several years ago. Come to think of it, it was the only Crane he'd met that hadn't practically spit on Letho's Crane's name. 

Letho smirked and made a show of tucking the stone into his belt pouch and pulled his rabbit from the fire, slinging a bit of cloth around it before grabbing his bedroll. 

"What are you doing?" Auckes asked curiously.

"I'm turning in. I'll eat in the morning. Since Auckes is only in danger of death by stupidity, I"ll be heading out in the morning.." Letho said, busying himself with making up his bedroll. He set the cooked rabbit in his pack. It was finally done but would make a better meal to start the day. 

"Going to see your bird?" Serrit asked. He'd guessed from his brother's reaction to the stone that the older Viper was most _definetly_ interested. 

"Yes. Fuck, Serrit, he's a great Witcher, talented, brave, he saved my hide when he didn't have to. I'm just a muscle-bound idiot who didn't even know how Cranes court! He's had a shitty life, and for some reason, other Cranes treat him like a child who pissed his short pants." Letho growled. "So yeah, I'm going back, as I promised, and I'm gonna give him this second stone and hope he fucking accepts it."

Serrit smiled and drove an elbow into Auckes's ribs before his fool of a brother could say whatever stupid thing was about to leave his lips. "Alright then. We'll head back to Gorthur Gvaed for Winter. With Auckes's luck, it'll take us all month. We'll see you there."

~~~~

As soon as dawn broke, Letho packed up Sky and set off with a farewell to his brothers. He rode hard for two days before finally arriving in Novigrad. The circus hard to miss with all the brightly coloured banners and tents, crouched on the banks of the river like a bright colourful bird. Everywhere he looked there were stalls selling snacks, minor performances such as dagger throwing or balancing, and children, so many children. It was dusk, but he knew the circus had a plethora of torches and lamps and went well into the night to perform.

Letho found the animal tents, and the stable boy recognized him immediately, well, he recognized Sky before the Witcher, which Letho supposed was a good thing. Letho left the mare in the very capable hands of the stable boy, who was already feeding her little slices of apples from his pockets and headed into the chaos of the circus. 

Several of the food vendors recognized him and offered him food or drink, which he refused until one young girl pouted at him until he took the rough waxed canvas cone of sugared nuts and let her fill his waterskin with warm cider. There was a distinct nip in the air, Autumn was halfway done. She also gave him directions to where Arris was. "He be in the main tent, if'n ya hurry, you can catch the show."

The door...flap watchers also recognized him and one, Jorva if he recalled correctly, gave him a bright grin, which nearly caught Letho off guard. "Follow me, Master Witcher, we kept a seat for you. Out of the way, but great view. No one'll bother you there." He led the Witcher around the back of the layered stands and to a hidden nook with a single bench that let him see the whole ring. 

"Good ya got here in time, show's just starting." Jorva said, heading back to the entrance.

Letho stood awkwardly for a moment, then set his sugared nuts and cider down on the bench, before turning is attention to the ring. Two massive posts, set on either side of the ring had a pair of acrobats on the platform affixed to each pole. They were holding massive swing looking objects, larger versions that Letho had seen set up each evening as the acrobats practiced. One, Amea, if he guessed right, was holding a thin rope that led to a pull catch above the middle of the ring.

There was a puff of blue smoke in the dim ring before torches, mage made to be so bright, flared to life all around the ring. Several people gasped. A man, pale and lean stood in the middle of the ring. He wore a bright blue mask over his tightly braided blond hair, wearing matching blue trousers and no shirt. His torso was painted with a scale design that ran along his ribs, up to his chest, to the sides of his throat and ended just under his jaw. 

The man gave a bow, then grasped one of the two long black falls of cloth that suddenly dropped from the ceiling. The man began hauling himself up the rope, hand over hand. Letho frowned, there was something, then lost his train of thought as the man began weaving the cloth around his body, twisting and bending. Then he let go.

Several people screamed, and even Letho caught his breath as the man fell. It was a shortfall, as the cloth caught the man, who used the momentum to start to swing back and forth, still flipping and twisting the cloth. Letho barely noticed the pair of acrobats on the floor run and grab the bottoms of the cloth, which meant no one else likely did and begin swinging in a circle, each loop forcing the man on the cloth to swing in wider and wider circles. 

Another twist and the cloth was wrapped only around the man's arms as the two acrobats let go, scampering off the ring, and the cloth fluttered behind the man, in a T pose, swinging around the ring like he was flying. The paint on his body shimmered in the bright torchlight. Letho saw a pair of arched wings on the man's shoulder blades, tattoos, not paint, from the colours, and his breath caught as he spotted three horizontal scars across the man's lower back. 

"Arris." He breathed. The man looked amazing, huge cloth banners behind him like massive wings, body glittering with paint and sweat. Letho watched as Arris flipped and twisted and bent his body in ways that seemed impossible as the two falls of cloth slowed their elliptical pattern. The Crane ended up with both legs wrapped securely and outstretched, completely flat, arched upside down, showing off his lean lines. Letho heard several women nearby moan in appreciation. He most definitely echoed it. He managed to keep his mind from wandering away, but only barely.

He heard a whistle and Arris grinned, flipping himself right side up and unwinding from the cloth, until he was holding on with one hand. He began to swing back and forth, gaining momentum. Letho saw the two acrobats dart back into the ring, gathering up the cloth and looking at Arris. 

Suddenly one of the acrobats on the platform let go of the huge swing and it fell, and as it did, Arris swung forward and let go of the cloth snagging the bar in mid-air as it reached its peak. The two acrobats on the ground darted away, pulling the cloth out of the ring and path of the giant swings. Letho watched as the bar swung back towards the original platform and Arris turned on it, hands moving rapidly. It reached its back peak and there was another whistle, as the other swing was released. the swings flew towards each other and Letho stared as Arris leaped off the first and tucked into a roll, then reached out and grasped the bar of the second swing. Cheers were heard, the swings at least ten feet apart.

As he swung back, the Acrobats on the first platform caught the swing and together, gave it a huge shove, as Arris's began its swing. Again he lept, this time outstretched and grabbed the bar before adjusting his hands, folding his body through his own arms, and hanging horizontally with his arms behind his back. He swung twice like that, before rolling his body back and hauling himself onto the top of the bar, standing on it.

The other swing was caught and the two ground acrobats darted back into the ring, dragging the cloth. as Arris's swing reached its peak again and he leapt, catching the cloth, pulling his body in before spiralling down it with one arm outstretched until he touched the ground lightly and bowed.

The whole damn place erupted in cheers and whistles, and Letho could only stare, the stone in his pocket was suddenly heavy, his heart racing and all he could think about was wrapping his amazing, beautiful Crane up in his arms and holding him close, then spending at least an hour admiring those painted scales and tattooed wings. 

He'd never seen Arris without his shirt, and as he shifted on the bench, he realized he really really wanted to see it again. And again, and again. 

Letho watched Arris give another bow and moved out of the ring, making way for several people holding long sticks with oilcloth on the ends. The fire dancers.

He settled on the bench and smiled to himself. He would watch the show then find his Crane..he smiled wider...HIS Crane, and tell him how amazing he'd been. 

He picked up his sugared nuts and cider and sat back to enjoy the show.


	6. Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings are tricky... But that's what makes them worth it, right?... Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updaaaaaaaaaaaaate~!!!
> 
> ~~ Much love for my Beta Squeakerblue!! <3 <3 I loves you so much!~~ X3

When the show was finally over and everyone was filling out, Letho remained in his dark corner and watched as the attendees were ushered out. When Arris finally caught sight of him, the Crane grinned widely and darted over, tossing aside his mask as soon as he was sure no one could see him and jumped at Letho, wrapping his arms around the larger witcher and hugging him close, burying his nose into the Viper’s neck and breathing in deeply. Letho caught him easily and held the Crane close, one arm under the other Witcher’s firm ass, the other buried in his hair. Arris _giggled_ in delight and leaned back, looking at Letho as he smiled widely.

"You came back." Arris said, tightening his legs around the Viper.

"Told you I would." Letho said and Arris just grinned more as Letho set him on his feet and traced his fingers over the painted scales on his skin. 

"Amea's idea." Arris blushed at the touch, his skin burning where the Viper’s fingers dragged gently, in a good way. His hands slid down to rest against Letho's chest. "She said if you managed to catch the show, that you'd enjoy the... ah... display." Arris laughed softly at that, knowing that the word definitely meant two things.

"Well, they do look good on you, but I much rather liked the feathers on your back." Letho said and Arris blushed, smiling as he closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.

"All Cranes have them. Before we leave for the path, we get the wings of the bird we name ourselves after onto our back." Arris said as he stared up at the Viper. He wanted to touch the bigger man and not let go.

Letho smiled as he listened to Arris talk and the Crane flushed and fiddled with a strap on Letho's armour. "Seems like you've had a fun time." Letho said and Arris just nodded as he continued to blush, now leaning forward and resting his cheek against Letho's chest and gripped the straps of Letho's armour, holding him in place as Letho wraps his arms around the smaller man.

"Fun, yes." Arris said drowsily. "Missed you." He added, so quiet that if Letho wasn't a Witcher he wouldn't have heard it. Letho bent his head and laid his lips on top of Arris' golden hair, breathing deeply as he took in the scent of the Crane. 

They stayed like that until Amea came over to them, the bubbly ball of energy that she was, and pulled them over to where the other Caravan members were gathering for drinks and late-night meals. Arris and Letho sat next to each other, the Crane telling Letho everything that happened while he was gone. The Viper listened with a small smile on his lips and simply watched and enjoyed the energy coming from the other Witcher. 

It wasn't long till everyone was heading for bed, Amea hugging Arris tightly and muttering small “thanks you”s to the Crane while Arris hugged her back with a patient smile. Letho chuckled as he watched, it was obvious Arris wanted to just go already, and soon enough Amea let go, handing him a pouch of coin, the rest of their pay plus Arris' cut from the show, and Arris thanked her before snatching Letho's arm and pulling the Viper away before they could get stolen for conversation again. He liked these people, he really did, but he only had so much time before he had to leave Letho's side for the winter and he just wanted to spend time alone with the Viper. Arris led Letho to a tent near the back of the grounds, pulling him inside and absently waved his hand. 

“Make yourself comfortable.” Arris said as he moved to a water basin at the other side of the tent and Letho looked about, observing the space. A chair, a small couch, a comfortable looking bed, and a few tables spread about. Letho moved over to the chair and sat down, unstrapping his swords, daggers, and most of his armour, and setting them against a nearby table. The chair gave him a perfect view to observe as Arris took a cloth and poured out some water from a jug into the basin. Dipping the cloth in, he started to wipe at the painted on scales from his torso and Letho relaxed into the seat and watched, glancing away quickly whenever Arris moved in a way that would catch him staring. Letho glanced aside, and his gaze caught the stone he’d given Arris the day the Caravan had hired them. 

Letho stood from the chair and walked over to pick it up, rolling it between his fingers as he recalled what his brothers said about rocks and birds, showing intention. Letho put the stone down and pulled the second one out from his pocket, flipping the smooth rock between his fingers. He looked over his shoulder to see that Arris had finished wiping down his torso and was drying it off, the wings tattooed on his back standing out even more without the paint to distract from them and the silvery lines from the scars, his badge of pride for saving Letho’s life.

“Hey, Arris,” Letho spoke quietly, and the Crane turned to look at him. Letho smiled, just the quirk of his lips, and held up the new stone and Arris' eyes grew wide and cheeks turned red. “I have something else for you.” Letho said, meeting the Crane’s eyes...

“Y-you… That… It…” Arris tried talking but tripped over his tongue. Letho picked up the first stone and approached Arris, taking the Crane’s hand and placing both of the stones into his palm. Arris stared up at Letho, the Viper curling Arris' fingers around the two stones. 

The Crane stared stunned at Letho and the Viper just lifted a brow at him. “Hmmm? Do you not like them?” Letho teased. 

Arris jumped and shook his head. “N-no! It’s not that!” Arris said quickly, and Letho tilted his head in question. “It… It’s just... “ Arris looked down at the stones. “The-they’re… Stones are… Courting.” Arris finished dumbly, flushing brightly

“I know.” Letho said with a chuckle and Arris stared wide-eyed for a moment before turning and rushing off. Letho watched with widened eyes and stared as Arris ran from one corner of the tent to the other, digging through his bags and drawers of the standing cabinet until he finally made a triumphant noise, pulling out a rolled-up piece of material and hurrying back. Clutching the stones to his chest with one hand, Arris held out the bundled fabric with the other, stiff-armed, and Letho blinked a few times before taking the fabric from Arris' hand. He took the fabric, and Arris grinned, letting the cloth unroll. Letho stared in surprise, and no small amount of awe, as the bronze-coloured cloth unrolled to reveal a scarf, covered in a scale pattern similar to the one that had painted Arris’ torso moments ago. Emerald green with gold edging along the scales, glittering in the candlelight of the tent. 

He stared wide-eyed at the scarf, rubbing his fingers over the material. It wasn’t thick but it was made from wool dense enough to keep the warmth in, definitely an ideal piece to wear in the colder weather of the northlands. Letho looked at Arris, taking in the red tint on the Crane’s face, and smiled as he draped the scarf around his neck. He pulled Arris close to his chest and wrapped his arms around the younger witcher. Arris tucked his hands between their chests, holding tight to his two stones as he buried his face against the crook of Letho’s neck.  
“You know, giving a Viper a piece of clothing is Courting.” Letho teased and Arris snorted, pressing his face closer and growled playfully at the Viper, making Letho laugh softly, and the two of them settled into a comfortable silence. After what felt like hours, Arris pulled back slightly and peeked up at Letho, watching as the Viper lifted in inquiring brow at the Crane and Arris grinned before excitedly pulled away and ran over to his pack. Arris dug around, fishing through the pouches until he pulled out a roll of cloth, then rushed over to the bed and threw himself upon it, sitting cross-legged. The Crane pulled out his Medallion from where it was stored inside a buttoned pocket during his performance. Arris unrolled the bundle, revealing a set of files and polishing cloths. The Crane smiled shyly and patted the mattress next to him, and Letho chuckled, draping himself across the bed, mostly behind Arris as he began working on the first stone. 

The Crane Medallions were vastly different to any other School. Whereas other schools had round medallions, the Cranes wore an oblong style, which allowed them to place their stones in the back. Letho watched as Arris began filing down the stones, inspecting them for flaws before chipping and filing the first one down to its core. Once it was roughly the right size, Arris began checking it against the slot in the back of his medallion. Letho watched, enthralled by the attention to detail, the way Arris smoothed away the rough edges, running the polishing cloth over the stone to check it, before working on the next bit. He was fairly sure there was a metaphor in it. 

Once the first stone was completed, Arris snapped it into the back of his medallion with a triumphant sound, then began work on the second. Letho shifted, sitting up on the bed and draping his legs on either side of Arris, who squeaked and then relaxed when Letho only draped big arms around his torso and rested his chin on his Little Bird’s shoulder. Letho let himself enter a kind of meditation, watching Arris’ hands work as he pressed himself against the Crane’s bare back. Finally, the second stone was finished, and Letho had no clue of the time and didn't really care. Arris clicked the last stone into place and Letho caught the edge of his grin as Arris put the medallion back on, sighing happily at the additional weight. 

Arris leaned back against Letho’s bulk, feeling the heat rolling off the bigger man and made a surprised noise when the Viper easily shifted them, Letho somehow losing his own shirt in the process. The Viper tugged Arris close, the pair draping comfortably across the bed, with Arris’ head pillowed by Letho’s shoulder as the Viper trailed gentle fingers across the feathers on Arris’ back. 

After a while, simply enjoying each other’s space, Letho spoke, softly, as if he didn’t want to say the words. “We should start heading to your School soon.” Arris responded with a grunt, half asleep in the Viper’s rather comfortable arms. “I have enough time, if we leave tomorrow, to take you most of the way there before I have to turn east to go back to Gorthur Gvaed.” Arris nodded against his chest, and Letho could smell the sleepiness washing over the Crane. “We can meet up again when winter breaks.” Letho whispered into the Crane’s golden hair, unable to resist shifting them slightly so he could press his lips to that beautiful mane. Arris let out a quiet purring sound, and tucked himself impossibly closer to the Viper’s warm body, and Letho let him, holding him tight and resting his nose and lips against the Crane’s hair, surrounding himself in the other Witcher’s scent. The two quickly slipped into a blissful slumber, the first real sleep either had gotten since separating from each other. 

~~~~

In the morning, after Letho had packed up Sky and they were ready to leave, both he and Arris said their farewells to the Caravan, Arris gave Amea a tight hug while she thanked him continuously before finally pulling himself away and jogging to Letho and Sky, the two waiting patiently for the Crane to finish. Once he got close to Letho but didn’t slow down, instead the Crane slipped around the larger witcher and jumped up onto the Viper’s back, avoiding the pointy parts of his swords and clung there. Letho blinked in confusion, then chuckling with a small shake of his head, reached around to grip one of Arris’ legs. He had to keep the Crane on his new perch, after all and began leading Sky down the road. 

A few people gave them odd looks as they left the area right around Novigrad, but Arris couldn’t bring himself to care one whit about them. His arms were wrapped around Letho’s broad shoulders, and Letho had a strong hand under his thigh, he was quite content and even half dozed, pressed against the Viper’s strong back. Two solid hours later, his legs began threatening to fall asleep and Arris wiggled. “Let me down, or I won’t be able to walk.” Letho did and Arris stretched, flexing his toes and legs, ignoring the weighty stare of the Viper. 

With a smirk, Arris’ turned. “You make a fine mount, better than Sky even!” He grinned at Letho’s mock roar of rage and nimbly dodged the tackle Letho tried, snatching up the ends of the scarf and tugging lightly. Letho had wrapped it twice about his neck to keep it secure, and Arris shamelessly took advantage, a light tug was no danger and Letho stumbled then bent backwards in a graceful arc, resting his shoulders against Arris’ chest. 

Letho raised an eyebrow at Arris, who was grinning down at him playful, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. It made Letho’s heart practically melt at the sight. Arris leaned down and pressed warm lips to his cheek before pushing him back upright, then moving a few feet to Sky, who hadn't bothered to stop walking while the people played. Letho stared after him, frozen by the feel of Arris’ lips on his skin and it took him a moment to shake himself out of it, slipping up beside Arris and wrapping one arm around the smaller Witcher, keeping the Crane close to his side as they walked. 

****

It took them two weeks to get close to the Crane school, stopping off for contracts, though Arris insisted Letho get the split in his favour since he’d have to travel all the way to his own school for winter. Arris had managed to sneak away in one small village, buying both knitting needles and a few hanks of yarn, crimson, red, and gold, to make another gift for Letho over the winter. The Crane hurriedly shoved it to the bottom of his pack to keep it secret. 

The trees have already lost their vibrant green and have changed to brilliant variations of orange, yellows, reds and browns. It was beautiful in a strange way and while they admired the beauty, neither Witcher relished the reminder that they would have to separate soon. The path swung near the coast before going back inland and the sound of the waves hitting the cliffs and beach made Arris’ heart sink. In another day they’d reach the split, Letho going east to the Tir Tochair mountains, and he’d go west, back to the Crane school. He wasn’t quite sure he could handle it. 

“Hey.” Letho spoke gently, nudging the Crane’s shoulder and pulling him from his thoughts, Arris’ eyes lifting to his and Letho smiled, placing a small kiss against the Crane’s forehead. “The snow will melt before you know it.” He tugged the smaller Witcher even closer. 

“I know. It’s just… Going to suck.” Arris said quietly, head bowed and staring at his feet. 

Letho frowned briefly then smiled, gently poked Arris’ side, making the Crane squeak. “Why don’t you show me that thing you were talking about.” He said and Arris stared at him with a scrunched nose and pinched brow. “You told me you tested out altering signs.” Letho added and Arris immediately perked up.

“Right! That one.” Arris laughed, rubbing at his neck and glancing around to check their location. If he recalled correctly there was a wide part of the river near here. “It’s really best done over water, more of an updraft from the current.” It also meant a slightly softer landing if he messed up, as he’d learned long ago. He grabbed Letho’s arm and pulled him and Sky, since Letho had her reins, into the trees and he quickly found the river, following the smell of damp earth and water. 

Letho removed Sky’s bridle to let her graze as Arris headed for the wide bend in the river. The Crane looked all the world like a child that wanted to jump in a puddle. Arris lept onto a tiny rock in the stream then used both hands to make a hand sign very nearly like Aard. There was a different twist to his thumb and index finger and the air swirled around the Crane like a whirlpool, but downwards, and Arris lifted off the rock and floated very slightly over the water until there was nothing under him but the stream. Letho’s medallion was vibrating furiously from the sign use and the Viper stared, he didn’t care that the awe was probably visible on his face as Arris remained airborne, toes barely dragging across the surface of the water. 

Arris had his attention locked on the water, and his signs, they were difficult to maintain. He was holding a steady, if slightly drifting, hover, when he glanced up to see Letho on the shore, a proud smile spread across the Viper’s face. Those golden eyes were filled with what Arris would cautiously call admiration, and he felt his fingers twitch, then the signs failing as his concentration was lost in the face of the Viper’s gaze. The flow of swirling air cut off, and Arris didn’t even have time to yelp before he crashed into the water. He sputtered and flailed in the knee-deep water before getting his bearings and sitting up. His gear was SOAKED, at least this was a decent spot to camp and it was sufficiently late in the day to do it. He looked at the riverbank, where Letho was covering his mouth in an attempt to hide his humour. Arris huffed and tried to stand, slipping on the wet stones and drenching himself again.

“Sorry, that… That wasn’t supposed to happen.” Arris frowned, he could feel the flush of embarrassment starting to fill his cheeks, then he looked up again, into Letho’s face, which was softened in the fading light and pushed the feeling away.

Letho shook his head. “You got distracted?” Letho asked, stepping into the stream and walking over to Arris, offering a hand.

“No one...no one looks at me like you do.” Arris admitted, reaching up to take Letho’s hand as the big Viper hauled him out of the water and onto his feet. He felt Letho gently grip his chin, tilting his head up and locking gazes. He flushed, even though he was starting to shiver from the cold water and the chilled air. 

“No one?” Letho asked, then smiled and gently pressed his forehead to the Cranes. “I will always look at you that way. I’ll be all you need, hmm?” He held Arris close, then felt the shiver wrack the shorter Witcher. “Shall we make camp? I imagine you don’t want to arrive at your keep soaked to the bone.” He chuckled at Arris’ inelegant snort. 

“You hunt, I’ll make camp?” Arris asked and Letho nodded, gently bumping their foreheads together again, and turned to head into the woods to find food for the evening while Arris went about setting up camp. Arris gathered a good pile of fallen branches, clearing brush from a level spot a decent distance from the river and went about making a base for a fire, stacking logs then hitting them with Igni, setting the whole pile on fire. He tossed a few more logs on to build up a good bed of coals, then went hunting for three long, thick, sturdy branches and dug two of them into the ground on either side near the fire pit, but not over it, then lashed the third in place. 

“What do you think, Sky?” Arris asked the mare as he plucked at his wet clothing. She snorted at him. “I agree, Armour off first, then do the bedrolls.” Arris starts stripping off his armour, setting it down to dry. Then he stripped bare of all but his smalls, hanging the clothes over the branch as he put his gloves on the upright ones. Close enough to the fire to dry, but not to catch fire. He dug through his packs, cursing when all he found were soiled clothing and one pair of thin pants useful only for drying off a bit. He scrubbed at his hair with them, then tossed the clothing in a pile to wash. He was already wet, he might as well do laundry too. 

Arris dug through Letho’s bag, hoping the other man had a spare shirt as well. He pulled out the dirty items, tossing them in the pile. He thanked the gods when he pulled out a spare shirt that was still clean. He removed his smalls, hanging them over the fire to dry as well. They’d been clean this morning. He tugged on the shirt, the huge black cotton feeling like he was wearing a tent, the bottom of the shirt stopping mid-thigh and slipping off one shoulder. Arris rolled his eyes and smiled at Sky, who was working her way to a chunk of clover.

“Think he’ll mind?” Arris asked the mare, doing a little spin in place. Sky ignored him in favour of munching the patch of clover and Arris chuckled. “I thought so.” He grabbed a hunk of rope and strung it between two of the trees as a drying line then made his way to the river with their dirty clothes and a bit of harsh soap. It didn’t take long, they travelled light after all, and Arris was hanging up the last shirt as Letho came crunching out of the forest, he glanced back and saw a small boar over the Viper’s shoulder. “Good hunt, I see.” He turned back to straighten a shirt on the line.

Letho looked up at Arris’ voice and damn near tripped over his own feet at the sight of the Crane standing barefoot and bare-legged next to a large fire, straightening a shirt out on a rope line, wearing _his_ shirt. The Viper’s brain short-circuited and he stared, open-mouthed at Arris. The man looked amazing, the shirt hitting mid-thigh, hanging off one creamy shoulder, the edge of a wing peeking out. Letho gripped the boar’s legs tight, keeping his hands busy so they didn’t reach for the gorgeous Crane. 

“I hope you don’t mind...Everything of mine was too filthy to be used again.” Arris said, brushing a hand down Letho’s shirt. 

The Viper snapped out of his surprise with a shake of his head and crossed the space between them, dropping the boar by the fire. He pulled Arris into his arms, tucking the smaller Witcher close to his chest and buried his face into the Crane’s neck. He took a deep breath, scenting that delicate neck. The scent of sea salt, apples, allspice and...he took another breath, nose pressed under Arris’ jaw. Moss rose. The scents embedded themselves in his nose, and his brain. Other Crane Witchers smelled like sea salt, thanks to their home, but only Arris had this scent. He ran his nose along the Crane’s long neck and felt Arris wrap arms around his larger frame and melt into the hold. His teeth itched and it took everything in him to keep from nipping at the tanned skin under his nose.

Not yet, he told himself. Letho pulled back after a few minutes, greedily breathing in as much of Arris’ scent as he could. He smiled, Arris’ eyes were closed and his face was completely relaxed tucked into Letho’s chest. He waited patiently for the smaller Witcher to come back to himself and smiled down at Arris when the Crane blinked and flushed, cheeks tinting a light pink. “Hello.” He husked out, the smaller Witcher looked at him.

Arris smiled and ran his hands up Letho’s chest armour, wrapping around his shoulders and ran his fingers lightly along the Viper’s neck, eyes flicking between them and Letho’s face. He felt the larger man shiver and the big Witcher closed his eyes, leaning into the touch. Eventually, they pulled apart, albeit reluctantly. Arris rubbed the back of his neck and Letho cleared his throat. “I see you were lucky in the hunt.” He waved at the boar laying by the fire.

“Indeed I was.” Letho laughed. “Think you could find another stick to skewer this thing so we can roast it?” Arris smiled widely and nodded his head some, leaning up on his toes and gently bumped his cheek to Letho’s before turning and walking to the tree line. Letho had held his breath when Arris leaned in close, his mind short-circuiting for a moment when he thought the Crane was going to kiss him. He let the breath out slowly, his eyes darting to where Arris was searching the tree line for a branch to use for the meat and cursed internally at how big his shirt was on Arris’ body and blocked his view of the Crane’s ass. He shook his head hard and moved to the boar, trying desperately to keep his mind occupied and not think about the fact that Arris was wearing his shirt with nothing underneath. 

Letho froze, knife buried in the boar. Was Arris not wearing his smalls? Did he find a clean pair? Did he find something else to wear underneath the shirt? Letho’s eyes drifted over to the line with their laundry, scanning the items on it, then looked to Arris’ armour by the fire and looked them over as well. His brain trying to function properly while skinning the boar as a mantra of “Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.” ran through his head. Letho had managed to skin half the boar when his attention was pulled away, Arris suddenly yelping in surprised pain.

“Ow! Fuck, son of a--” Arris swore and Letho was on his feet and next to the younger witcher in seconds. The Crane had found a stick, if the large branch was anything to go by, but somehow ended up on his ass in the dirt with his left foot pillowed on his right thigh and eyes narrowed at the bottom.

“What happened?” Letho asked and Arris’ face turned bright red.

“I, ah… I stepped on a thistle.” Arris admitted sheepishly and Letho let out a quiet sigh. “Haven’t stepped on something sharp in a while, just surprised me.” Arris said and Letho chuckled softly.

“Let me see.” Letho said and didn’t wait for Arris to respond as he knelt and grabbed the Crane’s foot and pulled it to his eye level. He looked at the sole of Arris’ foot, brow lifted some, and gently pressed his thumbs into the skin around where the skin was turning an agitated red colour from the intrusion. Without thinking, Letho leaned forward and pressed his mouth against the sole of Arris’ foot, gently gripping the Crane’s ankle and using his teeth to pull at the small point sticking out from the heel of Arris’ foot. 

It took Letho a few tries, but after the third attempt he pulled out the small thistle from Arris’ heel and spit it out onto the ground beside them. Only realizing the position they were in when he looked back at a flustered looking Crane. One of Letho’s hands had migrated to Arris’ knee, his fingers digging into the meat of the Crane’s thigh while his other hand was supporting Arris’ ankle still. One of Arris’ hands holding tight to the hem of the shirt he wore and held it down over his front while the sides had hiked up and showed off so, so much, of deliciously toned creamy thighs and muscled calves. 

They stared at one another for a long time, neither of them moving, Arris’ brain having stopped working as Letho’s hands moved across his skin and Letho’s mind not working at the realization that Arris indeed had _nothing_ on underneath his shirt. His fingers pressed a little harder into the Crane’s thighs when he realized this, Arris’ breath catching, and Letho forced himself to pull back and set Arris’ foot down on the ground gently.

“There.” Letho coughed, and Arris smiled sheepishly.

“Thank you.” Arris said quietly. Neither of them moved for a while still, listening to the crackle of the fire, until Arris finally cleared his throat and shifted his legs around him and rubbed his cheek. “Shall I finish making camp?” Arris asked and Letho shook his head, nodding quickly. 

“Yeah! Yes. I’ll finish with the boar to get it cooking.” Letho agreed and they moved in unison, fleeing the moment to quickly distract themselves from what just happened. Arris efficiently laid out their bedrolls while Letho finished skinning the boar and getting it over the fire to start cooking while Arris checked on the progress of their clothes. Each of them stealing secret looks at the other while they worked.

When the boar was finally cooked, Letho had to shake Arris awake and the Crane grumped about it but ate the food that was shoved in his face and Letho smirked at him when Arris took his normal chipmunk sized nibbles instead of eating like a “normal” person, a thing Letho had learned about his Crane when he came to food was that he had to eat slow, let his body accept the food, if he ate too fast he would end up throwing it all back up. Another lovely side effect of what Verel had done to Arris.

Arris had eaten both back legs of the boar while Letho almost devoured the rest of it, leaving just enough meat leftover that was scraped off the bones and stored away for a small snack on the road tomorrow. Letho could feel Arris’ weight against his side getting heavier, the Crane dozing off, and Letho smiled as he laid his head on top of Arris’ and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the fire crackling as he pulled the Crane more securely into his lap and wrapped both arms around the smaller witcher and before he knew it both of them were sleep, comfortably tucked against one another.

~~~~

The next morning, Letho woke without Arris tucked next to him and the Viper felt a small rush of panic and looked about quickly, calming when he saw Arris with Sky. The Crane was dressed in his now dry armour, hair tied back in a tail, and a small smile on his lips as he spoke quietly to the mare and Letho’s brow lifted some as he noticed now that Arris had his scarf wrapped around his neck and partially tucked under his armour.

“What are you doing with that, Little Bird?” Letho asked as he stood and walked over to Arris, the Crane smiling over at Letho and shyly tugged at the scarf.

“I… I figured… I could wear it, for today? Maybe enough of my scent will rub off on it, to… You know... “ Arris looked down, fiddling with the scarf some more. “To help you remember me.” Arris said quietly and Letho smiled as he reached over and cups Arris’ face in his hand and strokes the Crane’s cheek with his thumb, smiling a little bit more as Arris leans into the touch.

“I will always remember you, Little Bird.” He reaches out with his other hand, hooking two fingers in the chain of Arris’ necklace and holds up the medallion to eye level and Arris stares at it. “I meant these. You mean a great deal to me, and I have only one stone left to give, then I can say you are officially mine.” Letho said with a small growl and Arris smiled, his cheeks tinting with a soft pink. 

“I am already yours, dear Viper.” Arris said and Letho felt like his cheeks might break with how much he was smiling. They both knocked their foreheads together, staying like that and breathing each others air for a few moments before pulling back. Letho helped pack up camp, making sure to dress in the shirt Arris had on the previous evening so he could bathe himself with his Crane’s scent and also mix in his own during their time on the road before he would secret it away in the Crane’s bag when Arris wasn’t paying attention, a side gift, something for the Crane to keep of his that would help remind Arris that he was not alone anymore.

Arris was quiet when they set back out on the road, the two of them walking side by side and Letho made it an obvious effort to keep the Crane close to him, holding his hand or resting a hand on his lower back, and the closer they got to the point in the road when they would part the closer Arris got to the Viper. When they finally reached the fork in the road, Arris was glued to Letho’s side with the Viper’s arm wrapped around his shoulders and a small whimper like noise left the Crane when he spied the turn. They stood there for a long time, Letho’s arm around Arris’ shoulder, and the Crane finally sighed and moved about Sky and started to gather his things. Letho was thankful for the short break they took a couple of hours back, secreting the shirt he’d been wearing away in the Crane’s clothing bag. 

Letho watched as Arris got his bags together and threw them over his shoulder, he walked a few feet before pausing and looked down, Letho smirking as he watched Arris realize he was still wearing the scarf and the Viper slowly walked over to him. 

“Hey.” Letho spoke softly, reaching up and slowly began to unwind the scarf from Arris’ neck, the two of them never breaking eye contact as Letho took a small step forward, then another, and another, walking Arris backwards as he unwound the fabric. Arris made a small noise in the back of his throat as his back hit the trunk of a tree, Letho’s form looming over him. 

“Hello.” Arris breathed and Letho chuckled softly, finishing wrapping the scarf around his hand before bracketing the Crane between his arms. 

“May I have one last thing to help me remember you?” Letho teased and Arris’ brow lifted slightly and his head tilted adorably. “A kiss. For the road.” Letho added and Arris blushed cherry red as he stared up at Letho. The Viper waited patiently for the answer, chuckling quietly when Arris finally nodded and Letho dipped down to a more manageable level for their height difference and pressed his lips to the Crane’s, soft and sweet, Arris sighed softly and leaned into the kiss and all too soon Letho was pulling away. They stared at one another, Arris licking his lips and Letho’s eyes darted down to track the movement.

“Is that a real kiss?” Arris asked quietly and Letho blinked once, twice. He suddenly realized that Arris may not have ever been kissed before and a low growl rumbled in his throat. 

“Yes, and no.” Letho said and moved one of his hands from the tree trunk, trailing his fingers gently across the Crane’s side. “I could show you a “real” kiss.” Letho said with a growl and Arris kneed, staring up at Letho’s face, licking his lips once again. 

“Only you get to kiss me.” Arris said and that was all the permission Letho needed. 

Letho dove in, his hand gripping Arris’ hip and pulling the smaller witcher closer to his body while still pressing Arris’ back against the tree. Their lips met in the middle as Arris leaned up to meet him, his head tilting slightly for a better angle, and Letho led his other hand to Arris’ arm and silently urged Arris to wrap his arms around his shoulders. Arris moved his arms at the encouragement of the Viper, wrapping his arms tightly around Letho’s shoulders and a small noise of surprise left the Crane when Letho gripped his hips with his other hand as well and hoisted the younger witcher up, lifting his legs and wrapping them around his waist. 

Letho pressed close, bracketing one of his arms against the tree, his hand at Arris’ hip squeezing gently as he now licked gently at Arris’ lip, the Crane making a small whimpering noise as he gripped the back of Letho’s neck with one hand and his shoulder with the other, opening his mouth to the Viper and Letho licked inside. Both men groaning at the taste of the other, and Letho pressed closer, trying to get more and pushed his fingers into Arris’ hair and gripped the golden strands as he tilted the Crane’s head back slightly, devouring his lips, exploring the inside of his mouth with his tongue, encouraging the Crane to move in a similar manner, teaching him in a slow demonstration. 

Arris wasn’t joking before when he said he was a fast learner. Arris’ legs tightening ever so slightly around Letho’s waist, hugging his shoulders tighter, tilting his head to gain a better angle and coiling his tongue in a similar way to how Letho was moving his. The Viper groaned into Arris’ mouth, pressing impossibly closer to the Crane. They kissed for what felt like hours, neither of them wanting it to end until they _finally_ had to pull away for air, both witcher’s panting softly and Letho growled as he shifted his hips ever so slightly and caused Arris to whimper with need. 

Letho reluctantly put Arris back on his feet, giving the Crane gentle pecks against his lips, cheeks, and nose, smirking when Arris tried to go in for a deeper kiss again but the Viper pulled back and traced his fingers across Arris’ neck. 

“Hold that thought, Little Bird.” Letho said, pressing his own need against Arris’ hip while pressing his thigh against Arris’. “One more stone, then I will give you the greatest pleasure of your life and forever after.” Letho said, making Arris blush and whimper, but nodded slowly. Letho smiled and stole one last kiss before taking a step back, then another, soaking in the kiss swollen red lips of his Crane and wrapped his scarf around his neck and breathed deeply of Arris’ scent now soaked into the fabric. “Keep those thoughts till first melt, Little Bird.” Letho said with a grin and Arris rolled his eyes with a smile. “I will meet you again before you know it, with that final stone.” Letho promised and Arris blushed, clutching his bags to his chest, and watched as Letho mounted Sky. With one last stare, Letho kicked his heels into Sky’s flank and set forward into a steady trot, looking back to see Arris still staring after him and waved before Sky took a turn in the road and he vanished from sight. 

Arris slid down the trunk of the tree once Letho had vanished from sight, smiling stupidly as he pressed his face to his bags and Arris quickly lifted his head as Letho’s scent filled his nose as if it was fresh and he quickly went digging into his bag and found the shirt he had worn the previous day, his own scent barely there and mixing in with Letho’s. Arris smiled widely, realizing that Letho had worn the shirt for most of the day while they walked, the Viper’s scent strong on the shirt, and Arris buried his nose into the shirt, taking a deep breath before stuffing it back into his bag. Arris finally stood, shouldering his bags, and looked down the road where Letho had left for a moment before turning down the fork and headed towards the Crane school. 

He couldn’t wait for the snowmelt. He couldn’t wait to see Letho again.


	7. Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Witcher Schools are attacked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 <3 Thank you so much to Squeekerblue for Beta'ing and working with me on this chapter!!! <3 <3

It took Arris most of the day to traverse the road towards the keep, then up the Witcher’s path along the cliffs to the Crane School, the castle built against and into the cliff face. The keep was built so most of the non-training areas were within the stone, safe from the waves and storms, with the training yard and thick sturdy walls bearing the brunt of the ocean’s wrath during storms. Cranes trained in the worst of the storms, learning to keep their footing on slick stone and tossing decks even as waves crashed over the walls and tried to wash them away. It was a long drop to the water from the top of those walls.

Arris kept his eyes straight as he entered the main gate, the other Cranes already home slowing and stopping to stare at him. They usually did, but now he felt the weight of their gazes, noting his non-Crane armour, the scar on his face and his hair, pulled back and high to display it and his face instead of hiding behind it. He didn’t care, he was proud of the scar, Letho said it made him look dashing, which is all he needed to like it.

“SWAN!” The boom of a long hated voice made Arris stop and draw a slow breath, eyes closed before he turned to look at the older scarred Crane that bore down on him. “Where the ever-loving fuck have you been!? Do you have any fucking idea what you’ve done?!” The old Crane roared at him, voice rough and ruined, golden eyes blazing with rage in a face that bore massive scars across the left side and down the neck. 

Arris grit his teeth then forced polite words instead of the cursing it wanted to say. “Whatever do you mean, Verel?” From the corner of his eye, he saw several other Cranes look away, unwilling to even contemplate coming to his defence. No surprise there.

Verel sneered at him. “Don’t get smart with me, boy! You left Pitor on his own, his first year on the Path!”

Arris’ brow twitched with annoyance as he looked past Verel and saw Pitor smirking at him. He grits his teeth and gathered the courage months on the Path with Letho had built in him. “Aren’t Witcher’s supposed to walk the Path alone? Unless BOTH choose to walk?” He bit out. He could have heard a pin drop in the courtyard, as everyone sucked in a sharp breath. “Badurad walked alone. Kaleb, Temel, Nivi, Joert, Wenns.” Arris ticked off the names on his fingers. 

“They weren’t assigned a baby-sitter, who sat on their ass, did none of the work and stole all the coin.” Arris looked around the courtyard, at Crane’s who had travelled with him on Verel’s orders and done the exact same thing. A few had the grace to look away, shame on their faces. 

“Don’t lie!” Pitor yelled. “You and I were to work together!” 

“I left early so I wouldn’t have to deal with another Witcher stealing my work again. Verel sent you after me.” Pitor opened his mouth to argue. “Don’t bother, I know he did. No first-year would have left as early as I did otherwise. He sent you, that was it. I did not agree to work with you. In fact, I told you three times to fuck off, on top of leaving you behind.” A few people hissed in surprise. “I’m sick of it. If I travel with another Witcher, it’ll be on my terms, not anyone else's.”

Pitor’s face flushed with rage, as did Verel’s, making the scarring blotchy and red. Arris turned to leave and a strong hand spun him back around, then wrapped around his throat. Arris locked up, years of instinct to freeze when Verel gripped his vulnerable neck, preventing him from even twitching.

“Don’t you speak that way to me, boy!” Verel spat, peering at his face before grabbing Arris’ medallion, which had settled differently due to the new weight. “What is all this? You finally get slow enough to get that pretty face carved up? And this--” Verel held the medallion up, the two stones in the back glinting in the setting sun. “--What the fuck is this? You think we’re stupid enough to think someone is willing to Court you?” Verel’s face twisted, making his visage even uglier. “Oooooh, I know, you put these in yourself didn’t you? To make yourself look good? Like anyone would ever want a worthless weak Witcher as fucking terrible at his job as you are? Huh, Swan? Is that it? The pretty little Swan had to make himself look even prettier?!” Verel snarled as he yanked at the medallion and that was the final straw.

Arris snapped his hand up, gripping Verel’s wrist and twisted it away from his neck. The shock on the vicious man’s face was _almost_ good enough. Arris dropped his bags, stepping around the other Crane and twisting again, bending Verel’s arm back. He avoided the leg that kicked out at him with ease as Arris bent the arm back fully, pulling up and driving the arm up between the scarred Crane’s shoulders. Verel tried to elbow him and Arris just wrapped his own arm around the swinging one, immobilizing it. 

Verel was trapped against Arris’ chest, the taller man forced onto his tiptoes by the angle of his arm. The scarred Witcher snarled, “Release me, Swan! And maybe I’ll go easy on you.”

“My name isn’t Swan, you ugly piece of shit!” Arris twisted in a move Letho had shown him, then kicked his foot out, knocking Verel’s feet out from under him. Arris used the momentum to slam his knee firmly into Verel’s gut, feeling a rib crack under the force. 

Verel hit the ground hard, gasping for the air that had been knocked from him. He stared at Arris in shock and the younger Crane glared at him. “My name is Arris, the Peregrine of the Crane School. Remember that. I will no longer answer to any other.” He turned his back, hearing Pitor scrambling to Verel’s side. Arris picked up his bags and tossed them over his shoulder. He looked over at his long-time tormentor, who was being fretted over by Pitor. “Oh, and since you asked so fucking nicely...Yes, another Witcher gave me the Stones. He’s promised me the third in Spring.”

With that, he strode into the keep, his head high, feeling every eye in the courtyard on him. 

**

Arris wasn’t entirely sure what happened after that. One minute he was walking into the keep after knocking Verel on his ass, the next he was in his room, couched down with his head between his knees trying not to pass out. Holy. Fucking. Shit. Did he really just do that?! Why did he do that?! Verel was going to beat the shit out of him, he just knew it. Arris closed his eyes tightly, Letho’s voice rising and suddenly it’s all he can hear. “You don’t deserve how they treat you, Little Bird. You’re so much better than them. Don’t let them win.” That's why. Arris smiled to himself and took a breath, running a hand through his hair and upended his bags onto his bed to start sorting. 

He’d just separated the essentials out, moving the beautiful yarn and needles he’d gotten to the pillow when the door to his room burst open. He spun in place, heart in his throat and was promptly tackled, very gently, by a mop of brown hair, attached to another Crane. “ARRIS!!!”

“Hello, Kaleb.” Arris wheezed. “Nice to see you.” 

“Nice to see you? Nice to see you?! That’s all I get?!” Kaleb asked, bouncing around the room like the overgrown puppy Arris secretly called him. “Soooooo? What’s the story?!” Kaleb swooned dramatically. “Don’t leave me bereft of the drama!” 

“What story? What drama?” Arris asked, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking. Kaleb was his best friend, the only Crane that wasn’t an instructor that was kind to him. 

Kaleb grinned at him, gold eyes twinkling above his, oft broken, nose. “Yes, story! You managed to ditch the youngest, whiniest brat in the school...and I heard you travelled with another Witcher? Then you come back and not only finally knock the wind out of Verel’s asshole sails, but announce that you’re being Courted?” The excitable Witcher grabbed Arris by the shoulders and shook him dramatically. “Where. Is. The. Story?!”

Arris laughed and grabbed at Kaleb’s wrists, prying him off and Kaleb gasped. “He’s laughing, Heavens and Meletile above, he does know how to laugh!” Arris felt himself pulled into his friend’s arms, wrapped in a tight hug. Kaleb rocked them back and forth, then burst into obviously fake sobs. “My little bird is all grown up!”

Arris howled in mock outrage and wiggled free, swiping at the older man’s head. “Oh, fuck off. I’m not that bad and it wasn’t like that.”

“In all seriousness though, he must be one hell of a Witcher to get you to open up that much, and get you confident enough to face Verel like that.” Arris blushed and busied himself with sorting his gear, but Kaleb, being Kaleb, pressed on. “Soooo, what School is he from? Definitely not another Crane, considering how everyone else treats you, thanks to Verel.” 

Arris eyed him as Kaleb flopped onto the bed, then sat back up and moved a pair of potions from under his back, before flopping down again. “Whaaaaat? It’s true. Verel’s a vile person and you know it. Come on! Tell me!” Kaleb begged and Arris rolled his eyes. Kaleb never changed, not from the first day they’d met, Arris being dragged in shivering from the icy waves.

“He’s...Viper...he’s a Viper.” Arris said, touching his medallion. 

Kaleb gaped at him. “I’m sorry, did you say Viper? As in the creepy desert folk that you just have to look at and you get the shivers? Those Vipers?” 

Arris chuckled, nodding. “Yes, moron, those Vipers. Letho of Gulet, if you must know.” Arris sorted through his clothing, tossing the still clean ones into the corner, and stripping off his armour to put on the rack. He unrolled Letho’s oversized shift and caught Kaleb’s smile as Letho’s scent filled the room.

“Hmmm, big muscle-bound silent type?” The other man grinned, gesturing at the size of the shirt.

“Just got to get to know him, he’s really very sweet.” Arris said, colouring lightly.

“Just like people need to get to know you to see how awesome you are.” Kaleb said and Arris blushed, flipping him off. The other Crane laughed, watching as Arris tugged off his top. It was almost dinner time, as the sky was barely lit through the tiny window with the last rays of the sun. “So, how’d you get the scar on your face?” He’d felt Kaleb’s gaze on his back, clocking the new scars. 

“That one… That one was mostly an accident. Drunk man at a tavern, swung a broken bottle around like a mad man.” Arris said, brushing it with one finger. He heard Kaleb snort, the other man had a few similar scars from drunk humans, clumsy as they were.

“And this one?” Kaleb reached over, gently poking Arris’ back.

“Got it first. Jumped on top of the Viper so an Archgriffin didn’t remove his head.”

Kaleb let out a low whistle of admiration. “Damn kid, when you do something, you don’t fuck around by half.” Kaleb said, and Arris threw the dirty shirt at him before grabbing Letho’s shirt and pulling it over his head. Kaleb sputtered and tossed the dirty shirt aside as Arris tucked the bottom of the shirt into his trousers, letting the fabric hang off one shoulder. He pulled his medallion out and it flipped over, putting the stones on display.

Kaleb stood and took a step closer, lifting the medallion and inspecting the stones. “He found some good one, huh? These are gorgeous. I’m jealous.” The other man smiled, taking any sting out of the last words.

“I don’t think he realized what he was doing when he gave me the first one, but when he gave me the second… Well... “ Arris blushed brightly. “I..uh...I made him a scarf!” Arris burst out, then buried his face in his hands to hide his red face. 

Kaleb chuckled, pulling Arris into a much more gentle hug than the first. “I’m happy for you Arris, truly, I am. When are you going to see him again?”

“First snowmelt. It melts sooner down south and he’ll travel here, and I’ll meet him by the main crossroad.”

“I’ll have to meet him too. Someone’s got to give him the shovel talk!” Kaleb barely grunted at the elbow Arris shoved in his ribs. “Come on, I cannot wait to tell Badurad that you put Verel on his ass!” 

He grabbed Arris’s hand and pulled him to the door, opening it just as an explosion rattled the walls. It had come from the courtyard.

~~~~ Two Weeks Later ~~~~

Letho rubbed at his left shoulder, the joint and muscle still sore from the difficult hunt two nights ago.

He’d come across the notice in one of the larger towns near the Viper school. Usually one of his brothers would have already cleared it out but it was a recent development and most were already back in the keep for the winter. The notice was for a Striga. Nasty things, those. Women cursed for petty, stupid reasons, jealousy being the usual one. This one had been no different, a woman jealous of a younger, prettier girl in the town and she’d cursed the poor thing after accusing her husband of bedding the young woman.

Letho rubbed his shoulder again, recalling the fight.

_Letho stared into the dark, grateful Arris had shoved several extra vials of Cat into his bags. The moon might have been full, but it didn’t penetrate down here in the catacombs. He was lucky not to have to deal with wraiths as well, some other brother having cleared these crypts out earlier in the year. He listened, ears pricked for the sound of claws on stone. Most of his brothers would simply have killed the Striga, ending her suffering and her threat by burning her in her crypt, but Letho wanted to try to save her. This poor girl, barely into her twenties, cursed by a jealous woman though no fault of her own._

_It was a difficult and frustrating task, accomplished only by keeping the angry, miserable, and hungry creature out of her crypt until dawn on the night of the full moon when she hunted. She’d claimed only one victim, the husband in question. The townsfolk had been quick to put up a notice in every village and town they could._

_He was already nursing a swipe from her claws, brutal beyond even most monsters, with the exception of Fiends and Cohorts. He listened again, fingers twitching into the Sign for Yrden. He had to keep her busy, so he had goaded her into a demented game of Hide and Seek. Angry howls echoed through the catacombs, making him wince, and almost miss the bulky shape that charged him. Letho rolled to the side, slamming his hand down and forcing his magic into the Sign._

_The Striga howled in rage as she was caught, again, by the purple magic and locked in place. Letho snarled back and slapped her rump with the flat of his silver sword, before bolting away into the dark again._

_“When facing a Striga that you want to save, you goad, irritate and piss them off to the point that all they think about is you. It is only as dawn approaches that you go on the offensive, keeping them away from their crypt and their rest for another month. If you want to kill it, burn it in the crypt at any other point, or remove its head during battle.” The words rang in his head, rote training from Denis, the Bestiary Instructor._

_The game kept on, and Letho was sure his fingers were going to be stuck in the Sign for Yrden for the rest of his life before he felt the change. There was no way to see the moon or the night down here, but somehow the world grew more still, darker than it had been. He ran for the girl’s crypt, he had to keep her out of it. He arrived just in time to cast Aard at her, knocking her back from the stone tomb with a screech._

_She howled at him and attacked, her mane of golden hair, the only remnant that showed she’d been human, flying wildly in thick clumps. He dodged a blow, then another, catching her across the shoulder with his blade. The Striga screeched again even as the wound began to heal._

_She swiped at him, backhanding him in the gut and throwing him across the main room of the catacombs and into one of the massive pillars. The blow knocked the wind out of him but he didn't even have time to gasp for air before something in the ceiling cracked and the roof began to cave in._

_He scrambled out of the way of a large chunk, the stone slamming into his shoulder instead of his head, thankfully not dislocating the joint, but straining the muscles for sure. He saw the gray light of dawn streaming through the huge gaping hole. Dawn had come, and the Striga hadn’t made it into the tomb. He wasn’t sure it mattered though._

_A cough drew his attention and he squinted through the dust. He picked his way through the fallen rubble and cursed when he saw the top half of a naked young woman, blonde hair stained red, her lower half-buried under a huge pile of rocks and scree._

_For half a moment, his mind flashed to Arris and his chest tightened, but he took a breath, Arris was safe in the Crane’s keep, not here. He moved closer to the young woman, and sat down, lifting her head and pillowing it on his lap. She stared up at him and gave a weak smile, even as blood trickled out of her mouth. She didn’t have the strength to speak, but he saw her mouth “thank you” anyway._

_He sat there, covered in dust and grime, running his fingers through her hair, until the light went out in her eyes. He cut a lock of her hair as proof of his contract and looked around, there was too much rubble to free her body, a slab the size of an ox cart covering the top of the pile. He stood, then began gathering other bits and chunks of stone, building a cairn for her, and hauled the top of her crypt to her, placing it on top of her new burial site. He hoped she wouldn’t become a wraith, but he wouldn’t be surprised. She hadn’t deserved the death she’d received._

_He left the catacombs, and provided the lock of hair, explaining the new hole to the catacombs and to post a notice if a wraith appeared. The Alderman gave him his pay and he mounted Sky, turning her nose east again._

Letho turned Sky up the Witcher’s Trail to the Viper School, letting the mare pick her way up, as he kept his eyes on the ground. As a young boy, running this very trail he’d seen several bright blue stones, the same blue as shaded in the stones he’d already given Arris. He twitched the reins, sending Sky down a side path, scanning the ground. He wanted to find one before winter set in and kept him inside the walls, snows still falling on this side of the mountain, despite their proximity to the desert. 

He muttered a thank you to Meletile and the other gods as he finally spotted what he was looking for, the shimmering blue stone as bright as the sky on a clear day. He swung off Sky and picked it up, rubbing the sand and dust away from the smooth surface and tucked it into his pocket. He remounted his lovely mare and turned her head towards the trail again. 

He crested the ridge that overlooked the keep and reined Sky in sharply as he stared in horror at the thick sandstone walls of the keep. Huge gaping holes were punched into the walls, fires smouldering in several places. He saw several other brighter fires burning. 

Pyres.

The wind blew against his back, towards the keep, blowing the smoke and the stench of burning flesh away from him. He’d had no hint of what awaited him. He kicked Sky into a gallop, it was relatively smooth from here and she knew the way. 

He rode through the shattered gate, Sky skidding to a stop on the stone. He stared at the ruins of his home, walls broken and blackened, fires in different colours burning unchecked. Mage fire. There were pyres everywhere, far too many of them.

“LETHO!” 

The cry had him nearly falling off Sky in his haste to reach Serrit, his brother covered in soot, and bearing burns and cuts across his bare chest. The younger Viper wrapped around him and Letho could smell the pain and rage that filled his younger brother. 

“What happened here?” Letho asked as Serrit pulled away and tugged at his armour, forcing Letho to follow him. 

“Soldiers came, with dozens of mages. They hit us six days ago.” Serrit coughed, spitting blackened saliva to the side. “Fucking mages and their fucking magical fucking fires. We haven’t been able to put them all out. They destroyed the walls, the food stores, the armoury, damn near everything….and everyone. Some of us made it, lucky enough to hold out until the mages pulled their forces back after they destroyed what they came for.” 

“Auckes?” Letho breathed. He couldn’t imagine a world without his trouble seeking brother.

“He’s alright, got a busted arm and leg, but he’ll heal up. They killed all our mages though, their tower was the first hit, so it’ll be slow going. Those soldiers...they were fucking berserk. A couple of them even set fire to rooms they were in, killing themselves and everyone inside.” 

Serrit stopped by a low tent, and Letho looked in, seeing far too few cots occupied. Auckes was laying in a cot at the far end. “Letho...they took out our food stores, we might be able to get by with hunting but it’s going to be a lean fucking winter. A few of the Snakelings survived, but not many Vipers and most of those are too injured to move.”

“Why the fuck would they attack us? We didn’t do anything to them.” Letho furrowed his brows, trying to think what might have incited such aggression.

“They didn’t say why, but they’ve been hitting all the schools, killing who they can, destroying food supplies, leaving the survivors to starve.” Serrit snarled. “Or so said one of the fucking mages they left behind after he burned out. He turned out quite talkative once old Mellar got his knives out, but that’s we got before he bit it.”

Letho froze in horror. No, please, Gods above no. He grabbed Serrit’s shoulders, ignoring the hiss of pain his brother let out. “They’re hitting all the schools? All of them?!” At Serrit’s nod, he let go, bolting back towards Sky. The mare was standing in the same place, well trained not to move when he dropped her reins.

“Letho!” Serrit chased after him. 

“I can’t stay...Serrit...I have to make sure he’s okay. I’m sorry, I have to!” Letho swung up on Sky, the mare dancing in place in response to his agitation.

He felt Serrit’s hand on his leg. “Your bird?” 

Letho nodded, “He accepted the second stone..gave me this.” Letho tugged on the bronze and green scarf around his throat. He silently sent up a prayer for Arris’ safety.

Serrit’s eyes widened at the sight of the scarf, then he straightened. “Alright, we’ll hold on. I’m still able to hunt, and some of the ones near Trials survived mostly unhurt. We’ll make it through. You go make sure your bird is safe, then you’d better fucking bring him around once all this bullshit blows over.” Serrit patted his leg then stepped away. 

Letho looked at his battered brother then around at the half-ruined keep. “Vipers survive, Serrit, it’s what we do.” He reached into his bag and pulled out the pay for the Striga, dropping it into Serrit’s hands. “Take this, there’s a town two days ride that looked like they had plenty of supplies to spare. Send some of the near Trial boys, not a Viper. Who knows what rumours are spreading. I’ll be back, soon as I can.” 

Serrit nodded and Letho turned Sky back to the gate, and the mare leapt forward, leaving dust and soot hanging in their wake.

****

Letho rode hard, stopping only to let Sky eat and drink and rest her fill, barely able to sleep himself. He switched off riding and running alongside the mare, trying to spare her as much as possible, but she could sense his urgency and kept pushing herself. They’d made it to the gates of the Crane School in a week and a day, faster than he’d thought possible.

Beside him, Sky breathed heavily and he picked up one hoof, frowning at the state of it. He pressed the back of his hand to the sole and cursed. It was burning hot, and the hoof walls were cracked and chipped. The mare coughed, her chest heaving, and he pressed an ear to her ribs. He could hear the crackle and wheeze as she sucked in air. Her wind had broken.

He put down her hoof and wrapped his arms around the mare’s neck, and she turned her head into him, pulling him close. “I’m so sorry, girl. You gave everything to get me here.” He whispered into her ear, promising to find her a place to live out her life, with her wind broken, and her feet showing signs of founder, she’d never be a Witcher’s horse again. 

Letho turned and walked through the shattered gate of the Crane School gates, Sky following slowly behind, no longer pushing herself to injury now that they had arrived. He looked around frantically, trying to locate someone, anyone. Dried blood covered the courtyard and he felt ill. The keep looked even worse than Gorthur Gvaed, large parts of the walls and over half a tower gone, looking like it had been destroyed from the inside out, baring the structure to the open ocean below. Parts of the cliff that housed the inner parts of the keep had collapsed, destroying everything beneath.

“Ho, the keep!” He called out, his voice echoing dully off the rubble.

“Who the fuck are you?!” An angry voice snapped out from behind Letho, making him spin around and come nose to sword tip with a long Witcher’s blade, held by an older Crane, auburn hair tinged with gray at the temples.

Letho held up his hands. “Letho of Gulet, Viper School.” He watched golden eyes widen and the sword lowered.

“Letho? The Witcher who travelled with Arris?” The Crane asked, brows furrowing.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Oh, lad.” The older Crane lowered the sword and Letho realized he only had one arm, the left sleeve bunched up and tied into a knot. “I’m sorry.” The older Crane looked miserable, covered in dirt and soot, and he looked down. “I’m so sorry.”

Letho’s ears roared and he leaned heavily against Sky. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to swallow back the roar of grief. This wasn’t the place for it. “Where? How?” He choked out.

The Crane gave him a sorrowful look but gestured for Letho to follow him. Letho left Sky there and distantly noticed a young man come up to tend to her, as he trailed behind the Crane. They clambered over rubble and collapsed masonry, towards the destroyed tower. From here, Letho could see the tower and part of the wall had definitely been destroyed from the inside out, rubble littering the beach below in large scorched chunks. 

They entered the tower from a door at the base, climbing to the scorched and rubble-filled room. The hole was jagged and crumbled, and Letho could smell the reek of the black powder Arris used in his special Crane weapon, and the sulphurous scent of mage fire. The Crane spoke, his voice soft and filled with grief. “Pitor saw a mage portal in here during the fight. Arris couldn’t let him face a mage alone so he ran in behind him. He’d just saved my fool life, tying off my arm.” 

The Crane swallowed hard. “If the mages had moved the powder stored in here to anywhere else in the keep, it would have been horrific. He tried to stop them...then it blew.”

“He’s...is he..where is…” Letho couldn’t get the words out, he couldn’t believe it. Arris couldn’t be gone.

“We haven’t been able to find him.” The one-armed Witcher said solemnly, and a wounded noise ripped from Letho’s throat as he rushed to the hole and looked down at the rubble-strewn beach below. Scree from the collapsing cliffside had created a steep slope. “Hey! That wall is unstable!”

Letho ignored him, and the shouting that followed and leapt over the edge, sliding down the rubble and jumping when it got too unstable. He hit the sandy shoreline and began searching for any sign of Arris. Anything at all. His Little Bird couldn’t be gone, he just couldn’t.

Letho combed the area beneath the tower frantically, overturning stones and rubble. He had just flipped a slab of stone when his eye caught the glimmer of something shining just below the surface of the water, half-buried in the sand. He didn’t even think about it, just ran into the water, wading into the strangely calm water up to his knees to snatch up the shining object.

He distantly heard voices shouting behind him as he stared down at the Crane medallion in his palm, two stones set into the back, one gold with blue streaks and the other blue shading to silvery gold.  
His heart seemed to stop beating in his chest and the roar in his ears was back and he didn’t even pause to think, just pulled the chain over his head and lunged deeper into the frigid water. He ignored the piercing cold until he was chest-deep, pushed off the bottom, throwing himself fully into the icy water. 

The water was freezing but he ignored it, throwing his arms out in powerful strokes. He’d barely made three strokes when a golden shield formed around him. He fought against it as he realized it was pulling him back towards the shore, and he felt and saw the shield give out. He snarled, pushing himself deeper even as his arms began to go numb from the cold. Vipers were not made for the cold of a winter sea. 

The shield settled around him again, brighter this time and he growled, struggling against it, but this time there was a surge of magic that made both medallions vibrate and he went rushing backwards and landed face up on the shore. The golden shield, a Quen, his mind dully supplied, broke apart.

“Are you fucking insane!?” the one-armed Crane yelled.

Letho ignored him, scrambling to his feet and running back for the water.

“GRAB HIM!” A new voice shouted and hands fell upon him, snatching at his armour, his belt, even his scabbards.

“No! NO!” Letho snarled, pulling at the restraining arms around him and digging his feet into the sand. “I have to find him, I have to! Let me go! Arris!” The Quen settled around him again and he howled, eyes wide and panicked. “Arris! Arri----”

“Is gone!” A new voice cut him off and Letho turned his snarl towards them.

“You don’t know that! Let me go! I have to find him!” Letho roared, fighting the hold and slamming into the Quen bodily, but this time it didn’t even flicker.

The other Crane shook his head, tears filling his eyes. “It’s been three weeks!” Letho felt his knees give and the hands took the chance to settle more firmly on him. “He’s been gone since the attack.” The Crane’s voice broke near the end and Letho felt his breath stutter. “Arris shoved Pitor out the window when he realized he wouldn’t be able to stop the mage. The fucker had set a self-immolation spell and there was nothing anyone could have done. He didn’t make it! If he had, he would have come back!”

“You didn’t look for him?” Letho grated out, voice rough and hard.

“Of course we did! We searched everywhere we could! All we found were his blades!” The Crane grit out and the fight left Letho’s body. He slumped to his knees, clutching at the medallion that hung next to his own and clenched his eyes shut. He stubbornly told himself that it was the seawater making them burn.

“He told me about you, right before it happened...He…” The Crane broke off, waving a hand at the others to dismiss them, and they obeyed, moving away to give them at least the feeling of privacy. Letho opened his eyes to see the Crane kneel in front of him, a small, sad smile on his lips. “When he saw the mage, he.. he made me promise...He wanted me to tell you..that he loves you.” The Crane’s voice broke, tears marking his cheeks. “That he loves you and that he was sorry.” 

Letho choked on a whine, but the Crane continued. “He knew there was a chance he wouldn’t make it out, mages are dangerous. But when he saw it was the black powder storage, and Pitor ran in alone...he just...he couldn’t leave it.”

Letho pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, a choked noise breaking from his throat. The Crane remained silent, placing a hand on the Viper’s shoulder as they sat in silence, letting Letho mourn until the tide began to rise, lapping at their feet. The Crane helped Letho to his feet and led the Viper around and back into the keep. 

A mug of warm wine was shoved into his hands by the one-armed Crane and off to the side, Letho saw Pitor, the vicious, nasty young Crane Letho had practically rescued Arris from. The boy looked utterly miserable, a craggy new scar running down his face, and a broken arm bound tightly to his body. He refused to meet Letho’s eyes. 

The brown haired Crane led Letho into the keep after the Viper gulped down the wine, feeling it warm him from the remnants of the icy water. A door was opened and Arris’ scent billowed out, and the Crane smiled softly. “I know it won’t bring him back, but I know he’d want you to sleep here tonight.” The Crane looked into the room. “He did very much love you, and you made him very happy. The happiest I’ve ever seen him in fact.” 

The Crane turned to leave. “I’m Kaleb, and anything of his, you are welcome to. He’d want that.”

Letho nodded, closing the door and looking around the room, running his fingers over the simple furniture, touching everything before sitting on the bed. It was a disaster, everything strewn about, clothing in a heap in the corner, armour on the stand. The contents of Arris’ bags lay strewn across the bed, as if he’d just upended everything onto it.

It clicked in his head. Arris had...he had just upended the bag, and its contents when the School had been attacked. He’d been a day’s ride away when Arris had been killed. He gasped for air, and reached for the pillow on the bed, intending to bury his nose into it. His hands hit something soft, yet hard inside, and he turned to look at it.

On the pillow lay a skein of yarn, crimson, red, and gold, skewered through with a pair of knitting needles. 

Letho felt the keen rising in his chest and flung himself flat on the bed, heedless of the items upon it, burying his head into Arris’ pillow, surrounding himself with his Little Bird’s scent. 

There, in that dark, small room...No one saw as the Viper slowly fell apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In reference to Sky. Broken Wind is a term used for Recurrent Airway Obstruction, aka Heaves. It is the equivalent of asthma/COPD and can develop after hard, heavy, continuous work. It is not usually life-threatening.  
> Her hooves. Sky has developed Founder, a hoof ailment that can be caused by overfeeding rich grain (usually) but in this case is due to the hard, heavy ride. 
> 
> Before you attack the writer over “overworking a horse” please be aware that:  
> 1\. This is a fanfic and 2. the author and beta are well aware of the dangers of a horse being used this way. 
> 
> Horses are good about not allowing themselves to be run to injury (in spite of “run to death” myths) and can and WILL throw a rider before this happens. 
> 
> Sky is a fictitious Witcher Horse.  
> Rude comments in reference to this WILL be deleted.


End file.
